Some things you just can't Escape
by forevermagik13
Summary: Vexen finds himself in the universe that the Stranger sent his Riku Replica.  Crossover of  forevermagik13's KH universe and  rarmaster's KH universe.  There is much laughter in store. EDIT: Things have taken on a more serious tone given the tones of Dead Inside and Betwixt and Between.  However, there are still funny dribbles.
1. Prologue of Pi

So... my sister (rarmaster) and I had this crazy idea. What would happen if my Vexen were to end up in the universe that she sent the Riku Replica to? Or, rather, what would happen if, for some reason, any of my Vexen Replicas were to meet up with any of her Vexen Replicas? And thus, this hilarious thing is the result. I wrote this chapter, but she will write chapters to come. And I promise you, laughs will abound. If you want to know more about her KH universe, I suggest reading Falling to Pieces. Good story. Umm... that's about it. Please read, enjoy, review! If you have any questions, you can PM me or her and we can explain the wonders of the Replica Programs.

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><p><em>Prologue<em>

Vexen Replica Pi was bored. He was practically created bored. With fifteen other Replicas before him, he didn't have much of a job to do—at least, not that he could figure. So, as bored as he was, he decided he would do something that all the Replicas knew was impossible to do—get into Castle Oblivion.

No one knew quite why Castle Oblivion was sealed off. Rumor had it that the Master himself sealed it off. Though, other rumors just stated that the Castle had a mind of its own and sealed itself for reasons only it knew.

But that wasn't going to stop Pi from trying to get into CO anyway.

When he was sure no one was looking (not that it really mattered, it's not like the other Replicas would know where the dark corridor led and they were free to use them as they pleased), he opened up a dark corridor and tentatively stuck his hand through. He had been told that if a dark corridor couldn't go somewhere, it would be like he was being electrocuted.

However, no such electrocution occurred. Raising his eyebrows, Pi stepped through.

He had never been to Castle Oblivion before, but he knew what it looked like because he had many of the Original Vexen's memories. From the looks of this place, it was Castle Oblivion alright. But, something about this place didn't seem right. For starters, there were _way _too many Vexen's around. Last he knew, there were only a few remaining in Castle Oblivion. Nonetheless, one of the Replicas stopped and looked at him.

"Where have you been?" he asked. "Wait, what number are you?"

"Number?" Pi wondered. "Uh… I'm called Pi!"

The other Vexen Replica (number 29, but Pi didn't know that) smacked his forehead.

"I should have known it was you, 6, come on, let's go to your nice, shiny white room…"

Pi was very confused and wanted to tell this other Replica that he totally had the wrong guy, but at the same time, he wasn't quite sure of what was going on. This _couldn't _be the same Castle Oblivion. For starters, he vaguely knew that Vexen Replica Number 6 (part of the Master's original collection of Replicas) failed and was disabled.

His mind began to work out possible solutions to this problem. He was modeled after the greatest Academic of all time. He should be able to figure out what was happening here.

The first logical explanation he came up with was that someone had reinstated six, but why? The second logical explanation was that he had actually been electrocuted and this was a dream. The third logical explanation was that he was actually in some form of parallel universe, which had been known to happen when travelling by dark corridor. The Master mentioned something about a man named Edd who broke a few boundaries a while back and there were holes in the universe that you could theoretically slip through.

All of these thought processes occurred in three point two seconds. In that amount of time, the other Vexen Replica had time to cross the distance between the two of them and grab onto Pi's wrist. (Which he sort of felt was a bit of a violation of his privacy.)

However, he did not have much time to be annoyed, for as soon as the two Replicas touched, they both came to the same conclusion.

"You are from a parallel universe!" 29 exclaimed.

"Explanation three was correct!" Pi exclaimed.

"Would you like to explain how you got into this universe?" 29 asked.

"I am not quite sure," Pi said, thinking. "I was trying to get into Castle Oblivion, for in my universe it is sealed off for some reason. But, I was trying to get there anyway and I ended up here instead."

"That is very interesting, I assume it has something to do with the Edd interference."

"Oh, so you know of Edd also?"

29 nodded gravely. "He caused a significant amount of disruption here and we are still in the midst of recovering from it."

"I am truly sorry," Pi said.

29 shrugged. "It is not your fault I'm sure. Anyway, have you been here long?"

Pi shook his head. "I just appeared and was calculating exactly why there were so many Vexen Replicas about when you asked me who I was."

"Oh! To which I must apologize with confusing you with Number 6. He's not quite right in the head. We just have never had the heart to disable him. Lately, he's also taken to calling himself random foods. Therefore, I assumed you were him. What is your correct name?"

"Pi."

"Ah, like the letter. So I take it you are the sixteenth in your collection?"

Pi nodded.

"I am Number 29," 29 said.

"Pleased to meet you," Pi said.

"Likewise. On that note, I must be off, I need to find Joseph."

"Joseph?"

"Long story, you are welcome to come along with me if you'd like."

"I just might enjoy that," Pi replied. "I have been itching to collect some worthwhile data. And what better place to do that than in a parallel universe!"

29 smiled. "I appreciate your pursuit of data. And perhaps it will be better this way, if you had happened to run into 23 things might have been troublesome."

"Really, how so?" Pi asked, pulling out a notebook to start taking notes.

"We've been having some problems with rogue replicas," 29 said sadly. "Unfortunately, the original Vexen was destroyed and the Replica Program was placed under the care of Saix."

Pi twitched. He did not like Saix in his own universe. And from 29's tone, he gathered that Saix was equally well-disliked. 29 seemed to gather what Pi was thinking.

"I see you understand what I am talking about," he said. "On that line of thought, some of the other Replicas, I am ashamed to say, started working for Saix. We just haven't had the means to disable them on such a large scale. Technically, _we _are the rogues because we are not working alongside Saix. However, to us, _they _are the rogues, for they are the ones who have betrayed our Master's intentions."

Pi was frantically scribbling notes, as well as analyzing the things 29 had just said. However, it was about at that moment that he heard a loud _splat _and his paper was smattered with reddish-orange liquid. He looked up at 29 and was rather shocked.

29 had a tomato on his face.

"Bulls-eye!" came a childlike yell from behind him.

"JOSEPH!" 29 screamed, wiping the tomato off of his face.

Pi turned around to see a short boy with black hair and brilliant blue eyes. He looked to be about eleven or twelve. From a distance, Pi couldn't be sure what the boy's status as a being was. He looked to have more heart than a Nobody, but he had no clue who the boy could be a Replica of.

The boy laughed and ran off, 29 chasing him at his heels. Pi followed, intrigued by this incident.


	2. Aaand, Onto Another Universe

**Author's Note: **Hello again! This chapter is also written by me, though I promise you, rarmaster and i will be trading off rather regularly after this. Basically, this is what would happen if Vexen found out where his Riku was. The last chapter was basically a little amusing prologue. :P Um, enjoy! Review! Laugh. Oh, and I do apologize for it's shortness... but rarmaster is handling the portion of what happens when Vexen arrives, and I don't want to mix our writings in the same chapter.

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><p>"So do you mean to tell me that <em>my <em>Riku is in a parallel universe?" Vexen asked in disbelief.

"Yup," came Pi's reply.

Vexen _almost _chided him on his lack of manners, but decided he was too interested in Riku to care.

"How can I get to this parallel universe?" Vexen inquired, tapping his fingers together in a very mad-scientiest way.

"It's easy!" Pi said, putting his hand out and forming a dark corridor.

"That simple?" Vexen asked.

Pi stuck his head through the corridor. After a couple of seconds, he pulled it back out and nodded. "That looks like the right place. There's a whole ton of Vexen Replicas milling about and I think I saw Alpha."

"Alpha?"

"That's what everyone calls Zexion there. He's a Replica too, the first one."

If Pi was telling this to anyone besides Vexen, they either would have had fifteen million other questions for him, or would have simply found this conversation strange. Vexen, however, took everything Pi said in stride and chalked what little he found weird up to the fact that it was a parallel universe they were talking about.

"If it turns out you're _not _in the right parallel universe, it should become pretty obvious pretty quickly. Just ask for 29 and say that Pi sent you, or something like that. If they don't know what you're talking about, just corridor yourself back here."

Vexen thought about reprimanding Pi for speaking with him so conversationally, but was still too caught up with thoughts of his Riku—which was arguably the project he was most proud of.

"How easy is it to corridor between the different universes?" he asked.

"Well, I got to the other universe without any hitch. 29 has a theory that it's because Edd travelled between our universe and theirs. He's also responsible for placing the Riku Replica in that universe. However, when I was trying to get back here, it kept taking me to the Hallow Bastion in _their _universe, and believe me, you do _not _want to go there right now because…"

However, it didn't matter, for Vexen was already gone.


	3. But You're DEAD!

**Author's Note: **Rarmaster here! I wrote this chapter, might I add, i had a TON of fun writing it. Poor Joseph, keeps getting interrupted... erm... I'd say more, but I'll just let the chapter speak for itself.

**Note from forevermagik13:** Just so you know, rarmaster is still away, but she left this for me beforehand and I am posting it now :) Last I heard, she was going to TRY and get something up tomorrow evening when she gets back. But, if not, something should be up by Saturday, for all of you who are just DYING to know what happens next in Dead Inside.

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><p>"You see, I'm not a true Replica," Joseph was explaining, much to Vexen's interest. He was frantically taking notes on everything Joseph was saying. "I was an experiment. Master Vexen wanted to see what would happen if he combined data. I was the result," Joseph shrugged.<p>

_This is simply fascinating,_ Vexen thought to himself. _I can't believe how well the Replica Program has gotten along over here._

"That, and Saix doesn't like me for some reason," Joseph continued with a shrug. "Everyone else does. I don't see what Saix's problem is. Though, Saix does have a lot of problems. Oh wait, I probably shouldn't have said that."

Someone laughed, Joseph turned to them and grinned, before turning back to Vexen. He was still taking notes. Joseph paused, trying to think of something else to say. He had been told to keep Vexen occupied (only because no one else wanted to talk to him) and had, surprisingly, run out of things to talk about.

"Joseph!" someone called. Joseph cringed. If he didn't stop this now, he would have just run into the problem he had been told to avoid. He had been told to keep Vexen busy while someone else warned Riku. However, it seemed that didn't work too well.

"I've been looking for you!" Riku continued, walking over.

"Sir, please," Joseph said, trying to get Riku out of here before Vexen noticed. (Vexen was still taking notes, so he figured he had a fair chance.) "You really should-"

"Riku!" Vexen exclaimed.

Joseph cringed again. Of course Vexen had to look up _now_.

Vexen was currently analyzing the situation, just to see how high the possibility was that this _was_ his Riku. The possibility was high, but he wanted to be positive before he said anything.

Riku frowned, raising his eyebrows at Vexen, not quite understanding. Slowly, he asked: "What number are you?"

"Sir," Joseph said quickly, trying to explain. "He's not-"

"It is!" Vexen exclaimed, interrupting Joseph again. Joseph groaned. "_My_ Riku. Here!"

"What?" Riku asked, taking a step back and instinctively flashing into Dark Mode. "What are you talking about!"

Vexen grinned. "You haven't changed a bit!" he exclaimed in excitment. Riku continued to stare in shock. "Though… you _have_ gotten taller," Vexen said slowly.

Riku continued to stare, utterly bewildered, and totally at a loss as to what was going on.

"Stop gaping!" Vexen snapped.

"What?" Riku asked again, still confused.

"I tried to warn you, sir," Joseph muttered.

"You don't recognize me?" Vexen asked.

Riku slowly shook his head. "I see a hundred Vexens a day," he replied. "You don't look any different from the rest of them."

"So you _don't_ recognize me."

"That's what I said," Riku muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at me!" Vexen snapped.

Riku turned away. "Sorry, sir," he muttered, and then gasped. "Wait! What did I just-"

Vexen burst out laughing. "So I _did_ program you as well as I thought I did! I couldn't remember…"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Riku insisted, taking another step back. "Who_are _you?"

"Vexen!"

"That doesn't mean _anything_!" Riku exclaimed, getting rather frustrated. After a moment, he paused, the realization slowly hitting him. "Hang on, you're… _Vexen._ As in… the _real_ Vexen?"

Vexen simply nodded, obviously pleased that Riku finally understood.

"He's also from a parallel universe," Joseph muttered. "The same one you're from, I think."

Riku twitched slightly. "But you're DEAD!" he exclaimed after a moment.


	4. Joseph is Incapable of Shutting Up

**Author's Note: **Hey! Forevermagik13 again. Flightfoot asked where this takes place in the "All the Pieces Lie Where They Fell" universe. My answer to this question is sometime after what I have written. I have it generally plotted out, but it's not on paper (computer screen/Word Document) yet. Basically, Vexen is back just like most of the rest of what was once the Organization. However, he doesn't WANT to work for/work with Xehanort anymore but he's forced to. Therefore, he has a lot of motives to be in an alternate universe-besides just seeing how his Riku turned out. That's the short version with all the pertinent information. (Plus, Vexen himself rambles off some more backstory.) I promise I will write up to (and through) that point in "Pieces" soon enough. Summer is coming!

Okay, I am totally going to stop rambling now. I wrote this chapter. More to come soon.

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><p><em>"But you're DEAD!" Riku said, twitching.<em>

"Ah, but I'm not anymore," Vexen responded. Riku was about to give a snarky comment, but Vexen continued before he had the chance. "Obviously, neither are you. I was wondering where all of my replicas had gotten off to, seeing as they've now scattered to the four winds. And with Xigbar killing half a dozen, it's a wonder I have any Originals left. Which is part of the reason as to why I had to start up an entirely new Replica Program at Hollow Bastion…"

As Vexen was rambling, Joseph looked over at Riku and whispered, "He's either rambling or taking notes. And I didn't think _anyone _could out-talk me!"

"I'm honestly… not surprised," Riku responded.

"So you know him?" Joseph asked.

Riku nodded with a frown. "I was," he began. "One of his… projects."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Joseph whispered.

"It was," Riku said quietly.

Vexen was still rambling on about a couple of his current Replicas; assumedly, one of them was Pi.

Noting the 'I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it' look that Riku now had on his face, Joseph decided (smartly) to change the subject.

"Sheesh he can talk," he mused.

"Yes," Riku said, drawing out the word. When Vexen paused to take a breath, Riku stopped him.

"So, how did you get here?" Riku asked.

"By dark corridor of course!" Vexen responded. "Our universe and this universe are connected by something we like to call the 'Edd interference'."

Riku had stopped listening after the words "our universe."

"_Our _universe?" he asked, almost laughing at how ridiculous it sounded. "I don't belong there anymore. I live here. I belong here. I may have originated there, but it's not my home. This is my home. It has been for a while now."

Vexen crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought I programmed you better."

Riku frowned. "Oh, you probably did. But then you let Namine rewrite my heart, you traitor."

Ignoring the part where Riku called him a traitor, Vexen said, "Oh right… I forgot that I let Marluxia meddle with you."

Joseph, having actually remained quiet for longer than a sixty-second period of time, spoke up for the first time. "Wait, what does Namine have to do with this?"

Not_ really_ wanting to let Vexen know that a Namine existed in this universe, Riku hastily said, "Nothing."

However, Vexen had turned to Joseph. "What would you know of a Namine?"

Joseph gulped. The glare that Riku was giving him was worse than _any _condescending look 29 gave him. Unfortunately, the damage was already done.

"I'll just be going now…" Joseph began, starting to take off.

However, before he could run anywhere, Riku grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Joseph was still scrambling to get away, but Riku held him there without any extra effort.

"You got me into this mess!" Riku seethed.

"And how do you expect me to get you out?" Joseph whined.

Vexen was getting rather irritated. "What does Namine have to do with any of this?" he asked.

"Namine is a replica created from Riku's memories!" Joseph blurted out. "Master Vexen created her as part of Marluxia's plan to overthrow the Organization. She was supposed to be the bait that lured Riku in… and she was gonna be the leverage to keep him working for them… Except, it didn't work out too well…"

"There has yet, to be invented, a way to kill you, that is painful enough," Riku muttered in Joseph's ear. Joseph actually wasn't too fazed. He got death threats all the time.

Vexen had actually pulled out his notebook and started scribbling away notes again.

"Really?" he asked. "And how did this Replicated Namine turn out?"


	5. Are you seriously writing this all down?

**Author's Note (rarmaster): **In response to KKBeckett's question, this takes place during Nothing's Fair. well, maybe around that 2 week period between the ending of Nothing's Fair and the beginning of Dead Inside. Honestly, i hope you laugh at this chapter. If you don't then =P because I thought it was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS (love ya Joseph! ;D)

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><p><em>"Really?" he asked. "And how did this Replicated Namine turn out?"<em>

Joseph started to answer, but Riku covered his mouth with his hand before he could get anything out.

"Just be quiet for a bit, alright?" Riku hissed.

Joseph nodded. "Yes, sir," he managed to mumble.

Satisfied, Riku let go of him. Joseph, not expecting this, fell to the floor with a _thud!_ He quickly got up and dusted himself off, acting as if nothing happened. He didn't dare try to run again though.

"She turned out alright, I guess," Riku said, turning to Vexen. Joseph noticed that all anger he had moments before had nearly disappeared from his voice, and rolled his eyes. "Well, more than alright," Riku continued after a moment. "I don't think there's anything wrong with her."

"Of course you don't," Joseph muttered, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Riku.

Vexen was jotting down notes as fast as he could. "No problems at all?" he asked.

"Well, nothing besides that weird memory thing," Riku replied, kind of tapping his head as he said it.

"'Memory thing'?" Vexen asked, looking up.

Riku frowned, instantly wishing he hadn't mentioned it. He quickly thought up an excuse, and though he came up with at least ten, none of them would have worked. After a moment, he sighed and explained: "She's has an odd tendency to see my memories, because that's what she was created from."

"That's simply fascinating!" Vexen exclaimed, writing that down. "Anything else?"

"No," Riku lied.

"What about the connection between the two of you?" Joseph asked, and then gasped, covering his mouth and flinching away from the glare Riku was giving him.

"How do you know about that?" Riku hissed.

"Alpha mentioned something…" Joseph muttered, and then cowered, muttering something along the lines of: "Don't hurt me!"

"Connection?" Vexen asked, looking up again.

Riku decided he'd deal with Joseph later, and turned back to Vexen. "It's nothing," he said calmly.

Vexen frowned. "You're lying," he said after a moment.

Riku's eyes slowly formed a glare, and his fists slowly clenched in frustration. Of course Vexen would be able to notice that. Of course.

"It's nothing," he repeated coldly.

"You're not telling me everything," Vexen said, sounding slightly offended.

"I assure you, sir," Riku said as calmly as he could while keeping eye contact with Vexen. He did, however, spit out the word "sir" loathingly. "I have told you everything I know."

"I don't believe you…" Vexen muttered slowly. He had learned, that with Riku, that phrase meant Riku _wasn't_ telling him everything, but trying to squeeze the rest out of him was pointless. His eyes darted to Joseph, almost hoping that he would blurt something. Joseph was intent on staying silent though, as he knew if he said anymore Riku would kill him.

However, after a moment (filled only with Vexen and Riku glaring at each other), Joseph got an idea. He laughed quietly to himself and opened his mouth. Then he paused, wondering for just a second how angry Riku would be if he said it.

_Totally worth it,_ he decided.

"Riku loves her!" he blurted. Both Vexen and Riku turned to look at him, shocked.

"Shut up!" Riku snapped. Joseph laughed, as he could tell Riku wasn't mad. Just a bit annoyed. He grinned.

"Still pining after Namine, are we?" Vexen laughed. "The only difference is that this one is a Replica like yourself…"

"Hey! That's not the only difference," Riku said. He was, however, relieved that this had gotten Vexen off the previous subject, as trying to explain the connection that stood between him and Namine to Vexen would have been a pain (and not worth it). "This Namine's nicer, easier to talk to, can't manipulate memories-"

Riku continued to list off a number of other things. Joseph pantomimed barfing behind Riku's back, though made sure he stopped while Riku wasn't looking.

Riku paused suddenly, staring at Vexen in shock. "Are you writing this all down?" he asked, surprised. Vexen had, indeed, been copying down every word Riku said. And he continued to take notes as Riku gaped in shock.

"Hey," Joseph whispered, grabbing Riku's attention. "You're welcome by the way, for getting you out of that mess."

"Yeah. Thanks," Riku replied.

"You mentioned the Organization?" Vexen said suddenly, looking up.


	6. Some things Never Change

**Author's Note (forevermagik13): **Nothing too terribly important to say about this chapter, except have a few laughs :)  
>Oh, and KKBeckett asked the important question according to rarmaster. Have Riku and Namine exchanged the words "I love you"? Technically, no they haven't, not yet anyway. Riku in rarmaster's universe is ABOUT as slow as Sora in the regular universe when it comes to admitting love for the significant other (Namine in Riku's case, Kairi in Sora's.) At least that's my (forevermagik13's) take.<br>Kay, enough with the rambling, enjoy!

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><p><em>"You mentioned the Organization?" Vexen said suddenly, looking up.<em>

"Riku killed a third of them in a mere few days!" Joseph blurted out.

Vexen frowned, unsure of how he felt about this.

Riku found himself laughing. "You practically programmed me to protect Namine," he said, looking pointedly at Vexen. "Larxene, Zexion, Marluxia, they might have hurt her."

As he said this, a pained expression flashed across his face.

Joseph _almost _blurted out that Riku had killed Master Vexen too, but decided it probably wasn't smart. He covered his own mouth before any sound could come out and thankfully, Vexen didn't notice so he didn't have to explain himself.

"So how many of the Organization's ranks remain in this universe?" Vexen asked, still scribbling away.

Riku began counting them off on his fingers. "Well, Xemas is still very much alive, though I haven't seen him."

"No one has," Joseph said. "He never comes to Castle Oblivion."

"Xigbar's still around, as is Xaldin. Saix is around," Riku continued.

"Unfortunately," Joseph coughed.

"What do you mean by that?" Vexen asked, looking up.

"Saix is in charge of the Replica Program currently," Riku said. "And it's been cause for much unrest."

"I would certainly think so," Vexen said, sounding almost offended. "I'm not sure if it holds true for this universe, but back home, Saix is not fond of Replicas."

"He doesn't like them here either," Joseph said. "But he was placed in charge, so what are we supposed to do?"

"Axel's still around," Riku said. "Though, I don't think I've seen him around since Saix forbid members of the Organization to come to Castle Oblivion."

"Why would he do that?" Vexen asked.

Riku wasn't exactly sure how to explain that the little bit of 'unrest' he had mentioned earlier was actually something closer to a full-blown Rebellion.

"Luxord and Demyx are around still," Joseph continued for Riku, ignoring Vexen's question completely. "So is Roxas, though he's technically a Replica. But he's still part of the Organization and he still comes here…"

"Roxas is a Replica?" Vexen asked.

Riku frowned. "What is he in your universe?"

"A Nobody. He's Sora's Nobody."

"Huh," Riku snorted. "Well, Roxas is the Replica of Sora in this universe, and it's the only one I really care about it."

"Because Namine's in it," Joseph muttered.

Riku restrained himself from smacking Joseph. "Would you quit that?" he hissed.

Joseph stuck out his tongue.

"Right, well what of the other members?" Vexen asked. "You never did mention the Vexen in this universe, nor Lexaeus."

"No one knows where Lexaeus is," Joseph said. "He disappeared long before the Restart."

"As for Vexen…" Riku said slowly. "I just sorta… had to… kill him…"

Vexen's lips drew into a thin line.

"Awkward," Joseph coughed.

Riku now resisted the urge to kick him.

"I was a different person then," Riku admitted. "I was a lot angrier, but I've gotten better since then. At least, I would like to think so."

"Well yeah," Joseph interjected. "Especially since you have Sora to worry about."

Riku cringed at the mention of Sora's name. He whacked his forehead at Joseph's inability to shut up.

"Do you have the capacity to keep your mouth shut about the more important subjects?" Riku asked.

"Nope," Joseph stated proudly.

"As interesting as Sora may be," Vexen said. "I am more interested to know about how Saix is running the Replica Program. And you mentioned something called a Restart?"

"Well, after Riku here ki—" Joseph began. However, after a glare from Riku, he quickly rephrased his statement. "After Master Vexen was killed, the Replica Program kind of fell apart. But then it was placed into Saix's hands and Saix ordered for it to be Restarted so they could create a replica of Sora for the purpose of heart collection—whatever that is."

"I take it Xemnas is after Kingdom Hearts?" Vexen asked.

"Something like that," Riku responded.

"Some things never change," Vexen said, a twinge of sadness in his voice. He couldn't help but notice the parallels between this universe and his own. Xehanort wasn't even a Nobody anymore, and he wanted Kingdom Hearts. And Xehanort wanted Replicas of himself, for reasons even Vexen couldn't figure out. Vexen almost had to wonder if those closest to Xehanort (Xigbar and Saix) knew. All he knew was that Saix didn't approve of Replicas. Something that seemed to transcend universes from the info he was getting from the two boys in front of him.


	7. Can we PLEASE go get icecream now?

**Note from forevermagik13: **This chapter is mine, and I believe it answers flightfoot's question in-story. As for KKBeckett, I'm getting there in Pieces, promise.

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><p>"And because Riku killed Master Vexen, the Replica Program fell into Saix's hands. And once that happened, a lot of the Replicas started to rebel. Hence the lovely Rebellion. I'm here because 29 rebelled, but frankly, I like this side of things better…" Joseph was speaking rather quickly, trying to get all the important information out, because the sooner he explained the Rebellion to Vexen, the sooner Vexen would take him out to get ice-cream. Or, so he had been promised.<p>

"How many Replicas have rebelled?" Vexen asked.

"Well, it's about," Joseph paused, counting the number of Vexen Replicas on his hands. He got to about six before he gave up. "Well, it's quite a few Vexens, then one Zexion Replica, two Sora Replicas, then a few random other replicas, then me. Oh, and I suppose you can count Riku too. Most people around here like to think he's kind of leading the rebellion—though he would rather think he was just helping out."

Vexen paused to feel proud about his Riku and Joseph rolled his eyes. Out of all the Vexens he had ever run into, this one was the strangest. Though, that might be because he was from a different universe.

"So, one Zexion Replica?" Vexen prodded, after he was done with his proud moment.

"He disabled the rest of them because they went to go work for Saix."

Vexen winced at the word 'disable', even though he wasn't actually affected by such an action.

"Sora Replicas?" he continued.

"Well, it's arguable whether they're part of the Rebellion or not, but since Roxas keeps stopping by even though Saix banned it, I count him as part of the Rebellion. And Xion has to be on our side, because if Saix found her, she'd be dead."

Vexen went back to scribbling hastily in his notebook.

"Can we _please _go get ice-cream now?" Joseph pleaded.

"Well, I suppose so," Vexen said, pocketing his notebook and pen. "I am out of questions for you regarding the Rebellion at the moment."

Joseph almost breathed a sigh of relief. Spending time with Vexen was tiring. It was almost like he had gone from being the one baby-sat, to being a baby-sitter.

However, just as Vexen and Joseph were going to head out, Number 29 and Riku came in. Joseph sighed, knowing his chances of getting ice-cream any time soon had just decreased significantly.

29 looked positively elated about something; Riku just looked mildly interested, yet slightly confused.

"I've figured out the time difference!" 29 exclaimed excitedly.

Joseph rolled his eyes. Ever since Vexen had showed up, 29 had had a lot more time on his hands to do other research since Joseph had been given the assignment of looking after Vexen—arguably the most time-consuming-keeping-a-person-out-of-trouble assignment ever. Therefore, 29 had time to do productive research and was often quite excited with his findings.

"Ooh," Vexen said. "And what were your findings?"

"Well, initially, we were led to believe that our universe is running behind yours, which, at the time that Edd mentioned it, it was true. However, it's not just running behind, it's running _completely slower_!"

Vexen's brow furrowed. "How did you figure this out?"

29 pulled out his research notebook and pointed to a timeline. "Riku has only been in this universe for six months. How long has it been since Riku disappeared in your universe?"

Vexen frowned, thinking. "Goodness," he mused. "Close to two years. Eighteen months at the least."

"Exactly!" 29 said. "We needed two points of reference. However, we only had one point of reference until you showed up."

"Why does this matter?" Joseph asked.

"You wouldn't understand," both 29 and Vexen said.

Joseph sighed.

"Who told you this universe was running behind?" Riku asked.

"Edd," 29 said. "Well, he didn't tell me, but he told Marluxia and Axel and them."

"And who is Edd?" Riku asked, still confused.

29 and Vexen looked shocked that Riku didn't know this. Joseph was just as confused as Riku.

"Edd is the man who brought you here," 29 said.

Riku's eyes widened. "Well then," he muttered. "I will have to thank him someday. Does anyone know where he is?"

The other shook their heads.

"Ice-cream?" Joseph asked.

"Go ask someone else to take you," Riku said.

"But Vexen promised…"

"It's true, I did," Vexen said. "However, all I have is munny. Is that your currency here?"

Riku and 29 both nodded.

"Right," Vexen said. "Well, I'm not sure where exactly where we are going, so lead the way."

"Yippee!" Joseph shouted, forming a dark corridor to Twilight Town.


	8. You have my WINNER stick

**Note from forevermagik13: **This chapter is (again) mine. rarmaster is currently busy with Dead Inside (though she did write a fricken huge multi-chapter scenario for this fic-but it takes place later in both of our universes and will be posted at a later date.) Enjoy!

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><p>Joseph had finished running wildly about the Tram Common and had settled down to leaning against a building with Vexen, attempting to look casual as he finished his ice-cream.<p>

"So, how long are you planning on staying here? If you plan on leaving at all," Joseph asked.

Vexen nibbled on his own ice-cream, trying to wrap his head around the taste—as most people do when they have Sea-Salt for the first time.

"Well," he said, pausing in his ice-cream eating adventures. "To be completely honest, I don't want to go back."

Joseph cocked his head to one side. "Why is that?"

"Well," Vexen said, trying to see how he could phrase this in a way someone as young as Joseph could understand. "I really am tired of dealing with Xehanort."

"Who's that?"

"He's like your Xemnas, except worse," Vexen said.

Joseph made a face. "Is he worse than Saix?"

Vexen thought about this for a moment, then nodded.

Joseph winced.

"Does this Xe-a-whatsit person dislike you as much as Saix dislikes me?"

"You could say that."

Joseph patted Vexen on the arm. "That's okay then, I suppose you can stay here."

Vexen snorted. "Thanks," he said. He was a bit unsure as to what to do with Joseph's random show of compassion. Perhaps the sugar was wearing off.

Vexen stood corrected when Joseph launched himself off the wall and began zooming about the little alcove they were in. He paused only when he accidentally ran into someone coming out of a Dark Corridor. Vexen raised his eyebrows, apparently, _everyone _travelling here by Corridor came to this spot.

"Oh!" Joseph exclaimed, picking himself back up after he had fallen on his butt. "Hi, Roxas, didn't see you there!"

Roxas looked like he had just been awoken out of a gloomy trance. "Oh," he laughed a bit. "It's alright. Getting ice-cream again?"

Joseph beamed. "Of course!"

"Who brought you this time?"

"Vexen."

Roxas raised his eyebrows, wondering _which _Vexen Joseph could have been talking about. He had not been around when the whole commotion about the Original Vexen from another universe arriving had taken place. However, he did not ask Joseph to clarify.

Joseph dug in his pocket and pulled out two popsicle sticks. He handed them to Roxas.

"Here, use these," he said.

Roxas shook his head, laughing. "You know, Joseph, I _do _have munny."

"Yeah, and I have Winner Sticks," Joseph replied with a grin. "Tell Xion it's from me. It might make her feel better."

Roxas cocked his head to one side. "How is she?"

Joseph shrugged. "She was alright this morning, quiet, but alright. I haven't seen her since." He threw a backwards glance at Vexen. "I've been otherwise occupied."

Roxas ruffled Joseph's hair, something Joseph didn't approve of.

"You haven't been getting into trouble, have you?"

Joseph shook his head.

"Surprising," Roxas mused.

"I know, right?" Joseph replied, sounding surprised himself.

"Well, thanks for the Winner Sticks. Try and stay out of trouble."

With that, Roxas started walking up to Market Street.

Joseph walked back over to Vexen.

"How many of those sticks do you have?" Vexen asked.

"A million at least. I get one practically every time I come and get ice-cream. I always used to forget to bring them with me, so they just piled up in my room. But now I've learned to keep about half a dozen in my pockets for situations like these."

"Is that why the lady didn't even ask for money? She just stuck out her hand in anticipation for the popsicle sticks."

Joseph nodded. "Yup. Though, I didn't get a Winner this time."

He took a closer look at Vexen's stick.

"Oh! That's why! You have it!"

Vexen looked at his mostly eaten ice-cream to see the word 'Winner' printed on the stick.

"Interesting," he said.

"I told you I get one every time," Joseph beamed.

Vexen _wanted _to write that down, but his hands were otherwise occupied.

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you some questions?" Joseph asked. "You've been asking questions since yesterday."

"I suppose you may," Vexen said.

"Why did you create Riku?"

Vexen was taken aback; this was not the question he had been expecting. Not that he expected any question in particular, this one just seemed out of the blue.

"Well, I was working with the Organization…"

"Aren't you still?"

Vexen shook his head. "We aren't called by that anymore."

"What are you called, then?"

Vexen snorted. "To be completely honest, I don't know."

"That's not useful."

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I was working with the Organization. I was stationed in Castle Oblivion with five other members. Marluxia was using Namine to try and get Sora to work for him. He and Larxene both wanted to overthrow the Organization. Zexion and I both thought his actions were deplorable. When Riku showed up in Castle Oblivion, we decided we would try and get him on our side, so we could battle against Marluxia. However, when Riku failed to turn to our side, I decided to create a Replica of him."

"Wow, the Organization really _does _just create a replica every time they need to solve a problem."

"Not true," Vexen said. "Well, perhaps. However, I mainly only made Replicas of myself to, first of all, to figure out the art of creating Replicas; and then to just help me manage things that I wouldn't be able to do if I was spending so much time Replica-making."

Joseph laughed. "Let me guess, like eating?"

Vexen frowned. "How did you know?"

"Some things never change across universes," Joseph said with a shrug. "So, what replicas did you make that _weren't _of yourself? Besides Riku, of course."

"Well, I made No. i," Vexen mused.

"Huh?"

"She was an imperfect Replica of Roxas. I never really got to see how she functioned. And, from what I can tell, she is long gone."

Vexen was slightly confused as to why his memory was fuzzy around Replica Number 43. But it probably had something to do with the fact that she wasn't around anymore.

Vexen sighed, regretting what he was about to say next. "Then I made six Replicas of Xehanort."

Joseph's eyes widened. "Why?" he asked.

"I was told to."

Joseph snorted. "I can see why you left."


	9. Can I has skateboard?

**Author's Note (from rarmaster!): **so uhh... I'm not sure. I've been trying to write something for a while, and all that spewed out was stuff between Joseph and 29. So... yeah, I just figured "what the hey, I'll go with it"

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><p>"Can I have a skateboard!"<p>

29 didn't bother turning around, and just continued walking. Joseph quickened his pace to keep up with him.

"Why do you want a skateboard?" 29 asked, glancing down at Joseph.

"The kids in Twilight Town have one, and they let me ride it, and it was really fun! I want one too! Please!"

"No," 29 said simply.

Joseph pouted. "Why not?" he whined.

"No," 29 said again.

"But you won't let me hang out in Twilight Town either! I may never get to skateboard again!"

29 paused, and then slowly pulled a card out of his pocket. "Here," he muttered, handing it to Joseph. "Go create a version of Twilight Town in one of the rooms. You can skateboard there. But _only_ there, got it?"

Joseph took the card, grinning, and nodded.

"Thank you so much!" he called, running off.

29 shook his head. "That boy…" he muttered. "One of these days… One of these days he's going to get himself hurt."

"_29?" Master Vexen called. 29 quickly rushed over._

"_Yes, sir?" he asked._

"_Did I assign you any particular jobs?" Master Vexen asked._

"_No, sir," 29 replied._

"_Keep an eye on Joseph, then," Master Vexen said, nodding in the direction of a recently created Replica. It was a young boy, probably only 9 or so. "Make sure he stays out of trouble."_

29 sighed.

_From that day on, I watched over the boy. It was the only job I had ever had, and I took it seriously. I did everything I could to make sure he stayed safe._

_And then Saix took over the Replica Program._

_Saix never did like Joseph. Joseph didn't have a specific job and, to Saix, was useless._

29 closed his eyes, clearly remembering the day when Saix had confronted him about that.

"_That boy is nothing but a nuisance and a distraction," Saix had said. "He has no purpose, no reason to be around, why don't we just get rid of him?"_

"_Aw! But we can't get rid of Joseph!" Demyx protested._

_Saix ignored him, eyes fixed on 29, to whom the question had been originally directed._

"_It would be going against the Master's orders," 29 replied simply, calmly._

"_Vexen is no longer around," Saix said coldly. "His orders mean nothing."_

"_I will not allow you to destroy Joseph," 29 scowled. "He has been placed in my care, and I decide what happens to him. Having him destroyed is not an option."_

_Saix's scowl darkened also. "Keep that boy in line then," he snapped. "If you fail to do so, I will get rid of you both."_

29 shook his head, and then walked at a brisker pace.

_That was the only reason I rebelled, _he thought._ To make sure Joseph remained safe._

_If I had stayed with the Organization much longer, Saix would have killed Joseph, no matter what I told him._

He paused, as Joseph shot past him on a skateboard. He frowned, and caught Joseph by the scruff of the neck when he skateboarded past again. The skateboard continued rolling, tripping a poor Marluxia Replica.

"What are you doing!" Joseph asked, flailing a bit in attempts to escape 29's grasp.

"_This_ is why I didn't want you to get a skateboard!"

"It wouldn't have tripped him if you hadn't have stopped me!" Joseph complained.

29 sighed and set Joseph down. "Just… be… careful…" he muttered.

"Okay!" Joseph asked, running off again.

29 sighed. "Where's that Vexen from the other universe where you need him? He somehow manages to keep Joseph out of trouble… consistently…"


	10. Shouts of Rebellion

**Author's Note: (forevermagik13): **So I figured I'd tie in a few things, though I have to admit, I was a little nervous writing for rarmaster's charries at the end there, however (according to her) I pegged Axel perfectly. Cool, I guess. Anywho, this ties in where we are in this little crossover thing to Nothing's Fair (well, the end of Nothing's Fair anyway.) I'm gonna stop blabbering and let ya'll read now. Enjoy!

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><p>Vexen was pretty sure he had just been given the most superfluous job ever. However, at least he was being included. Though, it was possible that they'd accept anyone who didn't like Saix—this universe or not.<p>

He needed to focus.

He had been given the job of Cataloging what Replicas were on which side of the Rebellion. Alpha said it was important, and that Vexen seemed the most fit for the job.

So here he was, Cataloging Replicas.

There was about an even number of Vexen Replicas on either side of the Rebellion. Though, it was a tad hard to tell, considering the only definitive number anyone had was the number of defective ones that _had _to be Disabled. The System showed that Saix had reactivated several Replicas that had been temporarily Disabled. But it was really hard to get exact numbers given the amount of Vexen Replicas going completely Rogue and the ones that got destroyed whenever Saix had a temper-tantrum.

Aside from the Vexen Replicas, however, it was pretty easy to Catalog everyone else. There was only one Zexion Replica still active, considering he had Disabled the rest of his brethren when they had all joined the side of Saix. Alpha had also ensured that Saix couldn't bring any of them back.

There were a handful of Marluxia Replicas on either side. All the Larxene Replicas were on Saix's side for whatever reason. There was also one Xigbar Replica, who apparently claimed to be with the Organization, not Saix. According to—well, just about everyone—there was a difference between being with the Organization and being with Saix.

Then there was Joseph.

The last two Replicas were of Sora. Well, it was one Replica now, really, thanks to Saix's anger-management issues. Whispers were everywhere about how Saix saw the little Replica girl, Xion, as defective and a mistake. Saix didn't dawdle on destroying her.

Rumor had it he was after Roxas…

He was in the middle of typing up a Report on Roxas when a Vexen Replica (he _thought _it was 23) came running in.

"It's Axel! He's come back to Castle Oblivion! There's no way he's bearing good news!"

With that, he ran off again, in the direction of the entrance.

Vexen paused, wondering if this was important. He had only seen Axel once since he'd been here, but it wasn't like he had actually started up a conversation with him or anything. No one was entirely sure what side Axel was really on (some things never changed). And that was somehow intriguing to Vexen. After all, Axel wouldn't just show up at Castle Oblivion for no reason, not after Saix had banned it.

Whispers…

Vexen got up and ran after 23, or was it 19? The only one he could ever keep straight was 29, because 29 always seemed to be yelling at Joseph.

There were about a dozen Replicas in the Entrance Hall: Riku, Joseph, Alpha, one Marluxia and the rest Vexen. Axel leaned against the wall, looking bored. However, Vexen recognized the upper-lip curl that Axel tended to get when he wasn't pleased—if Nobodies had the capacity to feel as such.

"He destroyed Roxas?" Riku asked (loudly), looking confused. "But why? Doesn't the Organization need a Keyblade-wielder?"

Axel snorted. "I'm sure Xemnas isn't happy," he said. "He'll probably call a meeting in the Round Room pretty soon here. And then Saix'll probably be after the Program in a day or so. They need another Keyblade."

"They?" one of the Vexen Replicas asked, picking up on the particular pronoun.

Axel shrugged, looking away from all of them. "I talked to Saix about it. He was so convinced that Roxas had gone Rogue and needed to be dealt with accordingly… And, apparently, 'accordingly' means 'elimination'."

Joseph sniffled. "Roxas…"

"Saix has to pay, somehow," Axel muttered.

"I'll need to go see what Protocols I can lock," Alpha muttered, starting to scuttle off. "Before Saix starts changing things around."

Axel looked down. "Good luck with that," he muttered.

"What does that mean for us, exactly?" 29 asked.

"It means Saix will be trying to break in to get to the Replica Program. You're… we're all in trouble."

"You're a Nobody," Joseph said quietly. "Aren't you safe?"

"Yeah, so long as I go along with what the Organization wants. But maybe that's not what I want anymore."

"What do you want?" Joseph asked.

Riku and 29 both looked at Joseph warningly, it was amusing.

Axel didn't seem to particularly care though, he just shrugged. "A ton of things you wouldn't understand, kid."

And with that, he disappeared back into a Dark Corridor.

There was silence for several moments, before Joseph (who else) spoke up.

"I'll kill Saix myself if I have to," he mumbled. "I liked Roxas, and Xion! They were both so nice."

29 sighed. "You are too young to be killing anyone."

"Hmph," Joseph pouted.

Vexen had a feeling that the 'Whispers of Rebellion' were a lot more like 'Shouts' now.


	11. Remember what I told you about the door

**Author's Note: **author's note: rarmaster again! sup? Anyways, forevermagik13 suggested this, but I (well, Joseph) took it in stride and wrote it up. And, yeah, some of these are predictable... but, it's amusing, at least

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><p>Joseph sat in the middle of an empty room <em>somewhere<em> in Castle Oblivion. Where, exactly, was unknown, he had made sure of that. He was sort of hiding from 29. He was bent over a piece of paper, scribbling frantically with a couple crayons.

What was he doing, exactly?

Well, he was mapping out his plot to destroy Saix.

This was his third draft, 29 had destroyed the other ones.

"Almost… done…" he muttered.

A dark corridor opened behind him, and he cringed.

"Again, Joseph?" 29 asked, walking over and picking up the piece of paper. "I've already told you, it's too dangerous!"

With that, 29 ripped the paper to shreds.

xx

He was on his fifth draft now, still hiding from 29. Halfway through, he paused and glanced over the draft again. His eyes widened in shock as he noticed a mistake, which he quickly went to fix-

Only to mess up again.

And again.

And again.

In frustration, he tore the piece of paper to shreds.

xx

Draft number 9.

Joseph was actually sitting in the middle of the main room for this one. 29 was off somewhere, and so he wouldn't be tearing this draft up.

He carefully began to map out step number five in the plot.

Just then, the foot of an unaware Vexen stepped on his paper (and a crayon, which snapped). Because, of course, Vexen was too busy taking notes to pay attention to where he was walking.

"Hey!" Joseph whined. "I was working hard on that!"

Vexen quickly moved. "Oops! Sorry, Joseph!"

"It's fine…" Joseph muttered, examining the piece of paper. It now had a large foot print on it. He sighed, and then went to find another piece of paper. And, hopefully another crayon. Vexen had stepped on the blue one. The blue one had been his favorite.

xx

Draft number 12.

This one seemed to be going rather well. He was just barely starting it, but he had made sure to hide where NO ONE could possibly find him. Well, no one except Alpha. He _was _sitting in Alpha's room, after all.

He had also gotten himself an ice cream for this one, and was happily munching on it while he plotted things out. He had a new blue crayon, too. It wasn't as cool as the crayon that Vexen had stepped on, but it was blue. He would be happy with that.

He zoned out sometime during the plotting process, and his ice cream began to melt.

With a splat, melted ice cream fell on his paper, ruining it.

"Dangit…" he muttered.

xx

Draft number 16.

With a happy sigh, he put the finishing touches on it. He glanced over it happily, but his smile quickly fell.

"This is the stupidest idea ever!" he said, crumpling the paper up into a ball and tossing it over his shoulder.

xx

Draft number 21.

He sat in the entrance hall this time. He wasn't sure WHY he was here. It just seemed like 29 wouldn't bother looking for him here. He sat up against the wall, paper in his lap, crayons at his side, carefully sketching his plan out again.

A dark corridor opened, and he paused. Of course, 29 had caught him.

However, it wasn't 29.

"Yo! Joseph!" Axel said, walking over. "What are you up to?"

Joseph shrugged. "Plotting how to destroy Saix."

Axel laughed, and glanced over his shoulder. "You know, if you want to do that, you might want to fix _this_." Axel pointed at something as he said that, and Joseph fixed it. "Oh, and change _this._" He pointed to something else. Joseph changed it what Axel told him to.

A couple minutes later and with a lot of help from Axel, he had the draft finished.

It looked perfect.

"Thank you!" Joseph called as Axel headed off.

"No problem!" Axel laughed. "Just remember what I told you about that door, okay?"

"I won't forget it!" Joseph replied.

Axel left.

"There you are Joseph!" came the voice of 29.

Joseph quickly tried to hide the paper, to no avail. 29 snatched it away from him.

"Joseph, I've told you a million times, you are NOT going after Saix. So stop plotting out these ridiculous schemes!"

29 walked off, tearing the paper to shreds as he went.

"Nuts," Joseph muttered.


	12. Why that filthy coward!

**Author's Note: ** rarmaster again! sorry if you were expecting forevermagik13, you got me =D

anywho, I started playing with the idea if there was anymore Replicas like Joseph. Apparently, there was, but Saix destroyed them all (of course he did) so, instead of expanding on those Replicas themselves, THIS conversation came to mind.

and... umm... i'm not sure if I'll actually get around to expanding on those Replicas. If you want me to, I will, but otherwise I'm not really planning on it.

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><p>"29! I didn't expect I'd find you here!"<p>

29 turned, wondering who had called him. His eyebrows raised with slight interest. "Ah, 33, I did not expect to be seeing you around here either," he said. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

"Well, ever since you rebelled," 33 muttered with a shrug. "But, that's beside the point. How have you been?"

"Why are you here?" 29 asked sternly.

33 was taken aback. "Is that how you intend on treating an old friend?"

"Why are you here?" 29 repeated.

33 sighed. "I was considering rebelling, myself. There's something about the way Saix runs things that I… just don't quite like. And I was thinking-"

"You couldn't have thought of this three months ago, could've you?" 29 asked before 33 could finish.

"What are you talking about?" 33 asked, sounding as if he was at a total loss.

29 shook his head, disappointed. "How's Raymond doing?" he asked after a moment, doing his best to stay calm while he said it.

33's eyes widened in shock, and then his face fell. "Oh…" he muttered. "You're still upset about that, aren't you?"

"Upset! 33, I am thoroughly disappointed," 29 said. "I wasn't expecting you, of all people, to be among the ones to let Saix dispose of the younger Replicas that were entrusted into our care."

"29, what do you want me to do? I only did what I thought best for Raymond!"

"What you thought best? Is that really the best excuse you can come up with?" 29 was not only disappointed, but also slightly disgusted by this point. "Do you really think that letting Saix _destroy_ him was what was best?"

"Well… I…" 33 began, but couldn't think of anything to say.

"Exactly," 29 muttered. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"Listen, I'm sorry-"

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," 29 snapped.

"It's not like I can apologize to Raymond, can I?" 33 replied tersely.

"You could at least apologize to Joseph," 29 muttered. "Do you realize how hard it was to explain that to him? That _you_ let Saix destroy one of his best friends."

33 shook his head. "Sometimes I think you take your job too seriously."

"I am only doing what Master Vexen instructed me to do," 29 said simply. "And that was to make sure to keep Joseph safe, like the rest of us that he entrusted with the younger Replicas were told to do."

"They were only his experiments, and he only assigned us to take care of them because we didn't have any other particular job," 33 replied.

"That doesn't mean you had to let Saix destroy him!" 29 shouted. Or, almost shouted. He had gotten very good at shouting without actually shouting.

33 turned away. "You don't understand…" he muttered.

"I understand that you directly disobeyed Master Vexen's orders by not taking care of Raymond," 29 replied.

"Well, not all of us can be like you," 33 snapped, voice rising with anger.

"I was only saying that it shouldn't have been too hard to protect who you were entrusted with, that's all," 29 said, remaining calm.

"At least you didn't get a defective one!" 33 shouted suddenly.

29 paused, taken aback.

33 shook his head. "You don't understand, what it was like, for those of us who were given defective experiments. You got lucky, and Joseph turned out just fine. Raymond, among others, was defective. A 'mistake' if you will. You know how much Saix hates mistakes. I didn't have a choice."

29 sighed. "That still doesn't change how I feel about you. I'm sorry, but I still think you could have done something, if you had actually bothered to try."

"But, I-"

"33, I'm done talking to you," 29 said simply, before walking off.

33 watched him go, slightly shocked. After a moment he just sighed, and opened up a dark corridor behind him. He shook his head sadly and stepped through.

"Who was that?" Riku asked, catching 29. He was curious, it wasn't often 29 got upset over anything. He got annoyed often, just never legitimately upset.

"Vexen Replica number 33," 29 replied quietly. "He is not to be treated kindly."

Riku raised his eyebrows. "Any particular reason why?"

29 shook his head, not wanting to talk about it any longer.

"Whatever," Riku muttered. It probably didn't matter anyways. And if it did, he'd eventually find out, whether he wanted to or not. He walked off, having something else he needed to do.

29 continued walking.

"Was that 33?" Joseph asked, catching up to him.

29 rolled his eyes. He wasn't really in the mood to discuss this with Joseph at the moment. However, there wasn't any way he would be able to dodge that question.

"Yes," he replied simply.

"Ooh!" Joseph muttered. "That filthy coward! Why I oughta-"

"No," 29 said, before Joseph could finish that sentence. "Now come on, let's go get some ice cream."

"But what if I'm not in the mood for ice cream?"


	13. Company

**Author's Note: **forevermagik13 here :) rarmaster and I were up late talking about the Rebellion and the battles that were invariably fought. And I asked her if I could write the first one, she said yes. So, here's what leads up to the first battle of the Rebellion. (Or however you want to call it.)

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><p>Joseph was carrying a gigantic notebook and three blue crayons. He had told everyone in Castle Oblivion that he was starting to keep a journal—something 29 was actually rather proud of. However, he had ulterior motives: amidst his actual journal-like stuff, he had several different plans for the eventual destruction of Saix.<p>

Three people knew about this. Alpha knew because he had accidentally found out. Axel knew because he helped Joseph come up with half of the plans anyway. Vexen knew because Joseph had a habit of telling Vexen everything—possibly because Vexen was the only one who cared enough on a frequent basis to listen.

Joseph walked into the room with the couches (and a table) and frowned. There were really no empty seats. He sighed, but then picked Vexen out from the crowd of Replicas. He could squeeze in between Vexen and the Marluxia Replica easily. He waltzed over to the couch and plopped down between them. The Marluxia Replica scooted over several inches; Vexen merely just looked over his notes at Joseph.

Joseph opened his notebook and began a journal entry. He didn't think it prudent to plan Saix's demise with the poor Marluxia Replica sitting right there. Joseph wondered for a moment if that was the Marly Replica he'd run over last week with the skateboard. He hoped it wasn't. If it was, this might be awkward for him. (The Marluxia Replica, of course. Joseph didn't get awkward.)

_Journal Entry 44 ½_

_ WINNER Sticks: Infinity. (I've lost count.)_

_ No one has taken me to get ice-cream since we got the news of Saix's temper-tantrum that resulted in Roxas being destroyed. Actually, hardly anyone has left Castle Oblivion period. Axel comes and goes, but that's nothing new. Riku's the only one who ever leaves still—to search for Sora. _

Joseph stopped writing. He was out of things to write momentarily.

He looked up at Vexen. "I have a question," he said.

Vexen closed his notebook and took off his glasses. Wait, since when did Vexen wear glasses? Oh well.

"Yes?" Vexen asked.

"So there's a Riku in the universe you came from, right?"

Vexen frowned, but nodded, not sure where this was going.

"And a Marluxia and a Saix and an Axel and all those people?"

"More or less. At some point, at least."

"Is there a Joseph where you come from? Or someone like me in any form?"

Vexen shook his head sadly. "No, Joseph, there isn't."

Joseph figured that this was the case, but he still felt a little sad about this.

"You have to understand Joseph," Vexen explained. "I didn't have nearly as much time to experiment with Replicas as your Vexen did."

"How come?" Joseph asked.

"It's just one of the differences between the two universes. I barely had a week in Castle Oblivion to truly research before...erm…" Vexen was unsure how to explain this rather touchy (for him) subject.

"There was unrest in Castle Oblivion," Vexen explained, backing up. "Marluxia and Larxene were treacherous to the Organization and there was a lot of internal fighting."

The Marluxia Replica gave a sideways glance over at the two of them, but didn't say anything.

"I only had enough time to replicate two other people other than myself before my unfortunate demise," Vexen continued. "Xehanort didn't give me the chance to experiment much either. Well, rather, I left too quickly… Not that I'm complaining or anything, I'd much rather be here."

"If you did have the chance though," Joseph said. "Would you create someone like me?"

"I confess such an idea never crossed my mind," Vexen said.

Upon seeing Joseph's crestfallen face, Vexen quickly scrambled to save that statement. "Consider yourself lucky though," he said. "You're a unique little kid. I'm sure your Vexen was very proud of you. He obviously cared enough about you to give you such an excellent caretaker."

Joseph made a face.

"29 cares about you, regardless of how you may see it."

The two of them were quiet for a bit before Joseph asked: "If we still had access to the Replica making programs, would you consider designing more replicas? Provided whoever was in charge—probably would be Alpha—let you?"

Vexen shrugged. "Maybe, why?"

Joseph didn't answer for a bit.

"Don't tell me you're lonely?" Vexen asked.

"I'm the only kid," Joseph said. "Saix, uh…"

"Had temper tantrums?" Vexen prodded.

Joseph nodded. "Their caretakers just let Saix destroy them. I just got lucky I guess. But because of that, I'm the youngest Replica around, age-wise at least. Riku's gotta be at least five years older than me, even though I've probably been around longer. If there was another kid around…"

Vexen put an arm around Joseph. "Maybe I can help you out with that sometime."

"Really?" Joseph asked, his eyes growing wide.

"Well, first we'd have to have full access to the Program, I've seen what protocols we still have, and it's not many. But if we get the passwords for those and Alpha let me touch his computer, I would love to experiment a bit. Alpha already had been hinting that he'd like my help creating more Replicas for this side of the Rebellion anyway once we got the…"

"Hey, speaking of Alpha…" Joseph said, looking up at a very frantic-looking Alpha running into the room.

"We have company at the front door!" Alpha stated. "And they're not friendly!"

"Shall I set up our line of defense?" the Marluxia Replica asked, speaking for the first time since Joseph had walked in the room.

"Yes, yes, I think that would be best," Alpha said, rather absentmindedly. "Where's Riku?"

"Yes, where is he?" the Marluxia Replica asked.

"Oh, he went to go take a nap," Joseph answered. "He hadn't slept in thirty-six hours or so and 23 made him go rest."

"Someone should go wake him," the Marluxia Replica suggested.

"I'll do it," Joseph said, leaping up and pocketing his crayons.

As he ran out of the room the Marluxia Replica muttered: "Good, that should keep the boy occupied for a bit, we can't have him in the middle of battle."

"No, that wouldn't be good at all," Alpha said. "I'll page 29 and tell him to keep him under watch—unless 29 is one of your fighters…"

The Marluxia Replica shook his head.

"Right, I'll page him. Vexen, if you would like to come with me, I may need some assistance in protecting the computer room, for I'm sure that's what they're after…"

"By all means," Vexen said, standing up to follow Alpha. "Anything to be useful…" he muttered.


	14. Tempting Fate

**Note from forevermagik13:** The battle begins. *cue epic music*

* * *

><p>Two minutes later, fifteen replicas stood in the entrance hall to Castle Oblivion, prepared to face whatever stood on the other side.<p>

Riku stood at the front, Soul Eater bared. He had already asked six times why _he _had to be the front line but no one had given him a straight answer.

"I wanna be on the front line!" Joseph said, struggling against 29's grip as he tried to get up to where Riku was.

"Nonsense," 29 said. "This is not the place for you."

"But I can punch and jump on people's shoulders and pull hair and…"

There was a very large pounding on the front door.

"Does anyone have any idea why they didn't just come in by dark corridor?" one of the Vexen Replica's asked.

"I'm not going to ask," Riku said. "I'm just going to take them all down."

"And I'm going to help!" Joseph shouted.

"Ah, no," 29 said, still trying to get Joseph to come with him.

The door opened, revealing a Lexaeus Replica with his axe sword. Behind him stood two Larxene Replicas, a Marluxia Replica and one Vexen Replica. 29 knew this particular Vexen to be number 37. He frowned, 37 had been the first one to side with Saix.

"Why didn't we just use a dark corridor like any normal replica?" one of the Larxene Replica's whined.

"I was hoping we could reason with them," 37 said, stepping to the front.

"Depends on what you're trying to reason for," Riku spat.

"I merely want the main computer of the Replica Program," 37 said, rather calmly.

"You're here on Saix's orders!" Joseph shouted.

"One of the kids," the other Larxene Replica said, turning up her nose. "I thought Saix got rid of them…"

Joseph's eyes grew wide. "I hate you!" he said.

29 felt like he should reprimand Joseph for such strong words, but his feelings toward that particular Larxene Replica were identical to that of the young Replica and he felt it would be hypocritical to do so.

"Hmph," she said. "The feeling is mutual, mistake."

Riku's blood ran cold. He knew that tone, he _hated _that tone. He hated that tone about as much as he hated being electrocuted. He was angry—not as angry as he was when something threatened Namine—but close.

Joseph screamed in anger and ran at the Larxene Replica, she was too quick for him though and blasted him with a bolt of electricity. Joseph flew back and lay on the floor, crackling with electricity.

Riku growled and was about to launch himself at her, but 29 got to her first. No one even saw him summon his shield, he just had it out and landed a very hard blow on her head. She was knocked out instantly.

"Looks like reasoning with you isn't an option," 37 said sadly.

"I'm not going to reason with anyone who allows a replica to call another replica a 'mistake.' I don't take kindly to such language," Riku seethed.

"Oh, how noble of you, Riku," 37 said.

"Yes, how _noble_…" the other Larxene Replica said. But before she had a chance to give him a demeaning name, Riku attacked her.

As soon as Riku attacked, the rest of the replicas behind him started attacking as well.

29 stood over the unconscious Larxene's body in shock, analyzing this for exactly 7.2 seconds before rushing over to Joseph.

Joseph had been knocked unconscious, but he was still breathing. 29 scooped him up and ran for Joseph's room.

It didn't take long for Riku to take care of the other Larxene Replica. As soon as she was finished off, he started helping some Vexen Replicas fight off the Lexaeus Replica. Six Marluxia Replicas had their brother surrounded. He fought back madly with his scythe, landing a couple blows on the other Marly Replicas, but he didn't last too long.

xx

Meanwhile, 37 had slipped quietly away in an attempt to get to the computer room. He wished he could just corridor himself there, but that room, much like the room like it in the World that Never Was, was closed off to dark corridors.

"We must keep 37 out of this room at all costs," Alpha said.

"Can't you just seal off momentarily?" Vexen asked.

"Yes, but that would require someone to remain on the inside," Alpha said.

Vexen coughed.

Zexion frowned. "Fine, but don't touch my computer."

Vexen rolled his eyes and shooed Alpha out of the room. "Let's just seal this room up," he said. "But don't leave me in here too long."

"Believe me, I won't," Alpha muttered. "You're in here with my research."

xx

It took six Vexen Replicas, 3 Marluxia Replicas, and Riku to take care of the Lexaeus Replica. Riku was almost glad he had never fought the real Lexaeus. Once he had fallen, Riku looked around, surveying the scene.

"Track down 37!" he commanded. "And will _some_one do some_thing _about that Larxene Replica over there?"

23 and 19 were summoned to take the Larxene Replica into custody. They picked her up and dragged her off. 19 pulled out a card and held it up to a door. When 23 opened it, they were faced with something that looked oddly like a prison cell.

"This'll do," 19 said.

"Yup," 23 said, chucking the still-unconscious Larxene Replica into the room.

They closed the door behind her and walked off, proud of their work.

xx

While this was all going on, 37 had reached the computer room. Unfortunately for him, he arrived just as Vexen and Alpha had sealed it off.

"Good luck getting in there," Alpha said. "We've sealed it off."

"You and who?" 37 asked.

"Just a Vexen Replica," Alpha lied.

"I didn't know any Vexens on your side knew that protocol," 37 said.

"You don't know a lot of things, 37," Alpha said.

"Well, regardless, I'm getting into that room," 37 said, summoning his ice-shield.

"Destroy me and you'll never get in there," Alpha said defiantly. "And you know it."

"Perhaps a friendly duel then?" 37 suggested. "Winner gets the room?"

"You're going to duel me regardless of what I say," Alpha said, summoning his lexicon. "So I may as well just fight you. However, this is your destruction that this is leading to."

"Why do you say that?" 37 asked.

"Because you're too much like Saix. You don't fight enough to stay in practice. I however, train daily so that when I have to fight for my research, I can."

Alpha was quick to set up an illusion, the two of them were now seemingly in an empty room of Castle Oblivion. Alpha had to think quickly, knowing 37 would be quick to see through most of the things he set up. He wouldn't be able to rely on illusions for long. He opened the pages of his lexicon and a several pages hurled themselves out at 37. The pages lashed out at 37 who used his shield to protect himself from them.

Alpha opened the book wide and allowed the loose pages to shoo 37 into the book. He was trapped there, looking as if he had just been drawn in on one of the pages. Alpha allowed himself a smirk, but he knew 37 would be free soon enough. Alpha did not have the ability to keep anyone in the pages of his lexicon forever. Not even the real Zexion had the power to such a thing.

37 broke free of the lexicon and let loose a trail of ice needles. Alpha jumped nimbly out of the way and replicated the attack and sent it straight at 37. This was only slightly effective, for 37 was able to stop the spreading trail with his shield. 37 then conjured up a sword made completely of ice. He attempted to attack Alpha with it, but Alpha batted it out of the way with his lexicon. He then formed an ice sword of his own.

"Would you stop copying my attacks?" 37 growled.

"Sorry, it's in my programming," Alpha retorted, shoving the sword through an unguarded 37's arm. 37 looked down at his arm in shock, the ice sword sticking right through. Alpha then bashed 37 in the head with his lexicon.

"Low blow," 37 spluttered, pulling the sword out of his arm. Blood began spurting out.

"Not your smartest move," Alpha said.

"This isn't over," 37 spat, forming a dark corridor around himself. "I'll be back."

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Alpha said, shattering his illusion and closing his lexicon with a satisfying _snap_.

Riku came running down the hallway.

"Where's 37?" he asked.

"Oh, I took care of him," Alpha said, banishing his lexicon.

"Is he…?" Riku began, looking around for shards.

"Oh, no, I didn't kill him. He was too cowardly to stick around long enough for that. Granted, he _is _going to have one heck of a time fixing the hole I put in his arm."

Riku snorted, but tried to cover it up.

Alpha pretended not to notice and began unsealing the computer room. He knocked a few times for Vexen to know that he could unseal it on his end.

"You didn't touch any of my computers, did you?" Alpha asked when the door was open.

"No, not at all," Vexen said.

"You're lying."

"I didn't change anything," Vexen said. "I was merely looking up some of your Vexen's older projects. Joseph mentioned something about other kids like him and I wanted to see some of the data on that."

"Oh, the children," Alpha said sadly. "That's a sad story. One sadder than me disabling my brethren."

"Children?" Riku asked. "I'm confused."

"It's something we don't talk about much," Alpha said. "You can blame Saix for that."

"I can blame Saix for a lot of things," Riku said. "What's one more?"

"Long story short," Alpha began. "Joseph isn't the only kid. Well, he is now, but he didn't used to be that way. They were among the first destroyed after the Restart because Saix found them worthless. Joseph's the only one who survived."

Riku found himself sickened by this.

"So Saix simply destroyed them because he found them useless? No other reason?"

"Pretty much," Alpha said.

"I'm beginning to wonder if there is anything Saix can do that will make me hate more," Riku muttered.

"Don't tempt fate," Alpha said.

"Joseph just seems so happy though," Riku said, changing the subject slightly. "He never said…"

"He wouldn't," Alpha said. "He's pretty resilient. Granted, it's also been nearly half a year. For a Replica, that's quite a long time."

"Believe me," Riku said. "I know."


	15. You wanna WHAT?

**Note from forevermagik13: **Kay, so this chapter was written by both of us. Well, in sections. I wrote the part with 29 and Joseph, rarmaster took care of the little snippet with 37 and Saix, then I tackled Riku's brain and she took the bit with Riku and Joseph. Uh, that takes care of the business stuff... Is there anything else I should say?

**rarmaster: **no, no there's not. I suppose I should mention that I think Riku would absolutely despise lightning in any shape or form. That and I wouldn't put it past Larxene to randomly electrocute him (since he's the Riku Replica, in case you forgot, and Larxene was absolutely cruel to him in CoM)

**forevermagik13: ***shudder* Moving on. You guys can read now.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, 29 sat in the chair next to Joseph's bed. The electricity sparking around Joseph's body had stopped, but he had yet to wake up. 29 was growing worried. Obviously, Joseph was okay enough to not be breaking down—but that Larxene Replica had not spared him when she shot him through with electricity.<p>

His head flew up when he heard Joseph cough. Joseph coughed again and rolled over. His eyes flew open and he sat straight up in his bed.

"Joseph!" 29 exclaimed.

"That was _awesome_!" Joseph shouted. "I wanna get electrocuted again!"

29 smacked his hand to his forehead. Of _course _Joseph would enjoy such an experience as being electrocuted. 29 made a mental note to have Riku talk to him about the dangers of electrocution. Riku should theoretically be the best deterrent for that.

xx

"Need to… hurry…" 37 muttered, typing frantically. He was typing with his left hand, though that was his injured arm. However, he needed to specify _what_ he was repairing with one hand, and since he couldn't necessarily reach the wound with his left hand, he was specifying the wound with his right.

"What are you doing?" came the cold, disapproving voice of Saix.

37 did his best not to cringe. His typing slowed significantly, but he didn't stop typing.

"I'm repairing my arm… sir," he replied quietly. "I regret to inform you that the mission did not go as well as planned. We walked in the door and were literally down two Larxene Replicas almost immediately. I am, actually, the only one who came back alive."

"Just barely, it seems," Saix scolded.

"Only my arm was damaged, and I am fixing that right now," 37 replied. "Zexion Alpha put up a rather good fight, somehow. I'll be sure to get rid of him next time."

"Of course," Saix said.

37 swallowed, and then continued his continuous typing to finish the last protocol in repairing his arm. He hit the 'Enter' key and a blue light began pulsing from the wound. Within seconds, it was completely healed.

"You cannot get rid of me," 37 said. He knew Saix was thinking about it. "I am the only one who knows how to operate the computer properly. Without me you might as well just hand the Program over to the Rebellion. Just remember that."

With that, 37 walked briskly past Saix and out the door.

xx

Riku sat on his usual couch, a gazillion things running through his head.

They had gotten lucky. 37 had not brought the most skilled fighters, or something like that. Saix's side was down four people. The Rebellion hadn't lost anyone since Roxas. Granted, five people (including Riku) had gotten injured. Two Marluxia Replicas had pretty nasty scythe-wounds and there was a Vexen Replica who was recovering from a concussion from a blow from Lexaeus' axe-sword.

Riku rubbed his shoulder. The axe-sword was what had gotten him too. He had a nasty bruise coming up on his left shoulder and it was becoming painful to move.

Several Vexen Replicas (along with the real Vexen) had prompted Riku to use the Repair Program to fix it, but Riku didn't see the point in doing that. He had never needed the Repair Program before and all of his wounds had healed just fine.

Granted, he always had Namine or Kairi to help patch him up…

Namine…

He started to reach for the picture in his pocket, but he winced because it hurt too much to move. He sighed and closed his eyes. He could imagine exactly what the picture looked like. He knew what it felt like between his fingers.

Namine…

He was startled out of his thoughts by Joseph, who was complaining to 29.

_Well, at least that means he's okay… _Riku thought to himself.

Joseph had been the fifth injured replica, having taken quite the blow from that Larxene Replica. If it wasn't for 29 clobbering her with his shield right after that, Riku would have taken her down easily. That behavior didn't settle nicely in his gut. Maybe it was because of all the stuff the Larxene from the other universe had put him through…

He jumped (and then winced) when someone (probably Joseph) plopped down next to him on the couch. He opened his eyes and, sure enough, there was a pouting Joseph.

"Riku," 29 said softly.

"Yes?" Riku responded.

"I would like you to talk to Joseph about the dangers of electrocution."

Riku frowned, looking between Joseph and 29. "Why?" he asked.

"Because Joseph…" 29 began.

Joseph cut him off. "I wanna get electrocuted again!" he shouted.

Riku's eyes went wide and his stomach sank.

"What?" he said, his voice coming out rather dead-sounding.

_Why would _anyone _want to go through that torture _again_?_

"Are you-" he began, and then paused. It took him a second to actually find words. "Joseph," he began, but stopped again. He rubbed his head, still not quite sure what he was supposed to say to that. "Why?" he asked finally.

"It was fun!" Joseph laughed.

Riku shook his head. "No, Joseph, it's not fun."

Joseph nodded insistently. "Yes it was!"

Riku shuddered slightly at that. Maybe he was just overreacting, however, how was being electrocuted fun? It wasn't fun. It can't have been fun. There was no possible way it-

He shook his head.

"Didn't it hurt?" Riku asked.

Joseph frowned. "I don't quite remember," he replied after a moment. "But it still was fun!"

"No, Joseph, that's-" he began, but had no idea what to say. His head was beginning to hurt, too. And it hurt a lot. He wasn't sure if this was just because Joseph was frying his brain or for other reasons.

"Are you okay?" Joseph asked.

"No," Riku muttered. "I don't understand _how_ the _heck_ you can think that being electrocuted is fun."

Joseph shrugged.

Riku was silent for a moment.

"Joseph, listen to me," he said, turning to look Joseph in the eye. "I know you think it was fun. I don't understand why, however…" he sighed. "You got _lucky_. That Larxene Replica was _kind_ to you, do you understand? You got blasted with lightning only because you were in her way and she didn't like you. But the moment one of those Larxene Replicas hear that you think being electrocuted is fun, they're going to make sure it's _not_ fun."

"How so?" Joseph asked, cocking his head to one side.

"By pinning you to a wall and sending so much lightning through you that you can't think because it hurts too much," Riku replied quietly. He shook his head again. "Trust me, that is _not_ fun. And I don't want that to happen to you."

"Did that happen to you once?"

Riku turned away. "More than once…" he whispered.

There was silence.

"You want to go get some ice cream?" Joseph asked suddenly.

"Promise me you won't try and get electrocuted again, first," Riku said.

"Okay!"


	16. Oh, for the love of Pudding

**Note from forevermagik13: **Before I say anything else, I would like to announce that there is a comic involving Riku's brain in the previous chapter up on my deviantArt. I will have a link in my profile for you to follow. Other than that, rarmaster and I worked on this chapter together, though she is responsible for most of it. Though, it was my idea to bring 6 in.

**Note from rarmaster: **well, actually, I don't have much to say. the fun doesn't start until the next chapter

* * *

><p>"You'll regret this!" Larxene Replica C shrieked. She was currently bound to a chair. Her hands were tied, though it wasn't quite stopping her from shooting lightning bolts. It was really only effecting her accuracy.<p>

23 and 19 were both watching her, questioning her, and collecting data. They both had their shields out to protect themselves from any stray lightning bolts. They also had notebooks out, but it wasn't quite clear how they were actually managing to write.

"That's the third time you've told us that," 19 snapped. "It's pointless."

"You don't know who you're dealing with!" Larxene C shouted.

"Actually, yes we do," 19 replied, not amused. "Now stop with the threats and start answering our questions!"

"What do you want with the main computer?" 23 asked, trying to sound threatening.

19 elbowed him in the ribs. "Really? We already know what they want with the main computer!"

"Well, it seemed like a good question at the time," 23 said with a shrug.

19 rolled his eyes. "When is Saix sending the next little party?" he asked. "And are they actually going to be smart enough to use a dark corridor?"

Larxene Replica C rolled her eyes and snorted. "Heck if I know. Saix'll probably yell at 37 to send another party within the next two days. As for any of them having enough brains to use a dark corridor, your guess is as good as mine."

"Thank you for your cooperation on that," 23 said, scribbling this information down in his notebook.

19 frowned. That seemed too easy. He was about to ask the Larxene Replica about this, but he was distracted by her shooting a bolt of lightning at him. He casually held up his shield and the bolt bounced off, adding yet another scorch mark to the floor, which was beginning to resemble a Dalmatian.

"Oh please," Larxene C snarked, rolling her eyes. "I only told you that because I honestly don't care. The sooner you get done with your little questioning, the sooner I get to get out of here."

"Who said we're letting you out?" 23 retorted.

"You wouldn't!" Larxene C gasped.

Silence.

Larxene C groaned. "Oh just kill me," she muttered. "Nothing's worth this torture."

"If that is really what you want, I'm sure it can be arranged as soon as we're done questioning you," 19 said. "Which reminds me, why did 37 bother to bring you? All you seem to have is a big mouth, and it got you in trouble."

"I do not have a big mouth!" Larxene C shrieked, shooting another lightning bolt at him. Again, it was blocked. "I choose to come with 37 because I thought I would get to see some action and actually _do_ something for once. But NO! All I managed to do is anger the one Vexen who managed to knock me out in one blow. That's just _lame!_"

"Well, you did injure Joseph," 19 replied simply.

"That little mistake had it coming to him!" she replied.

"Hey!" 23 shouted. "You can't speak about Joseph that way!"

"I'll say whatever I want about him!" Larxene C shouted in return, just as loud. "He's just a stupid little kid! I hate stupid little kids! Saix was right to get rid of-"

That sentence was cut off by 19 whacking her over the head with his shield.

"Ow!" she shrieked, sending another lightning bolt off in no particular direction. It bounced around the room for a second before fizzling out of existence.

"You better keep your voice down," 23 warned. "If 29 hears you say that, he might not be as kind as he was last time."

"Or Riku will hear you," 19 added with a shrug. "And you wouldn't want that either."

"Why should I be threatened by Riku?" Larxene C asked, spitting Riku's name out rather loathingly.

"He hates your guts," 23 replied with a shrug.

"Why?"

The Vexen Replicas exchanged glances.

"I thought it was obvious," 19 said after a moment. "He did destroy the other one rather quickly."

The others accepted that explanation without question.

The three of them were startled by someone banging on the door.

"Who could that be?" 19 wondered.

"It sounds like someone's bashing their head against the door," 23 replied.

"Number 6," they both said, hanging their heads.

"Help!" Larxene C shrieked. "Get me out of here!"

19 walked over and opened the door. He held up his hand so that 6 would bash his head against his hand as opposed to falling over when there suddenly wasn't a door in his way. (Yes, this has happened before.)

"6," 23 said, tapping his foot. "What are you doing?"

6 stopped bashing his head against 19's hand. "Pudding!"

Larxene C growled and fired off another lightning bolt. 19 suspected this and held up his shield to block both him and 6 from the blow. It bounced off his shield and hit 23 in the foot. 23 hopped around for a few seconds before the cackling died down.

"I'm going to need a new pair of shoes," he muttered.

"That replica is _defective_!" Larxene C shrieked. "Defective Replicas should be _destroyed_!"

23 took that opportunity to bash her upside the head with his shield. She was knocked out cold.

"Really, 23?" 19 said. "That's the seventh time."

23 shrugged. "I wouldn't keep bashing her if she'd stop being so annoying."

19 rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to go take care of 6, you stay here."

With that, he calmly led 6 out of the room. Only to poke his head back in after 8 seconds.

"By the way," he said. "Riku and 29 are on their way. _Please _keep them from destroying her."

"Oh for the love of..." 23 muttered. "Of all the people to interrupt, why _them_?"

19 shrugged. "She was screaming rather loudly."

"PUDDING!" 6 shouted.

"Come on, 6," 19 muttered, escorting him out again.

23 sighed.


	17. The Killing of Larxene Replica C

**Note from forevermagik13: **DUUUDE, I want Dirge of Cerberus. Not like any of you actually really care, but I felt like saying that. Welcome to the murder of Larxene Replica C. I have fondly called this little escapade (the last chapter and this current one): "The Questioning and Killing of Larxene Replica C". I don't particularly think I'm spoiling much... you all had to figure she was gonna die... her and her big mouth.

**Note from rarmaster: **(has nothing to say.)

* * *

><p>"Was 6 bothering you?" 29 asked, poking his head in.<p>

"19 took care of him, it's no problem," 23 muttered.

"Are you sure?" 29 asked, glancing over at Larxene Replica C. He frowned. "Ah… she's still around. I thought you finished questioning her hours ago."

"Sadly, no," 23 replied.

"What is going on?" Riku asked, opening the door.

23 winced.

"I thought I heard-" Riku began, but paused, noticing Larxene C. "What is she doing here?" he demanded. "When I said take care of her I meant get rid of her! Not keep her around!"

"We are, uh, doing our best to question her, sir," 23 explained.

"And how's that working out?" Riku asked.

23 muttered something under his breath.

"That's what I thought," Riku said. "Can we get rid of her now?"

"Well, uh, about that, sir. 19 requested that I make sure she isn't destroyed," 23 muttered. "We have yet to manage to get her to tell us anything important, and I think he wants to try again… or… something."

"What about maim? Can I maim her?"

Riku's question was received with silence.

"Would you stop knocking me out?" Larxene C shouted as she returned to her senses. "It's getting really old! And I'm starting to get a headache…"

Riku twitched slightly.

"Was that a yes or a no to my question?" he asked after a moment.

"What question?" Larxene C snapped.

"It's not your business," Riku replied.

"Well, sir," 23 said quietly. "I'm sure it _is_ her business, considering-" he stopped, receiving quite the glare from Riku. "Never mind," he muttered.

"What are you talking about?" Larxene C asked.

Riku casually drew his blade.

"But, sir-" 23 began.

"I'm not going to kill her," Riku said. He turned to Larxene C. "So… I hear you're not telling us anything. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Why does it matter to you?" she asked.

"The sooner you answer their questions, the sooner I don't have to look at your face ever again," Riku replied simply.

"That's mean!" Larxene C shrieked.

"I don't care."

Her response to that was chucking a knife at him.

"Weird… she hasn't done that before…" 23 mused. He paused, glancing over at Riku, who seemed to be in pain. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Riku groaned. The knife had hit him right around that nasty bruise. "That arm hurt enough already…" he muttered. After a moment he carefully pulled the knife out his arm. The newly created wound immediately started bleeding.

"Are you sure about not wanting to use the Repair Program?" 23 asked.

"Yes," Riku replied firmly. "I don't need some stupid Repair Program to heal my wounds. My wounds heal just fine on their own, thank you."

Larxene C burst out laughing. "Are you stupid!" she laughed. "Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? Who would want to-"

"Shut up!" Riku snapped, interrupting her.

"Is Riku too independent to have something fix his owies for him?" Larxene C teased in a sing-song voice.

"I said shut up!" he snapped again.

"Hmph," Larxene C muttered. "Why don't you stop being so childish?"

"Why don't you shut up?" Riku replied.

"Why don't you shut up?" Larxene C mocked.

"How do you put up with this?" Riku asked 23, putting pressure on his arm to get it to stop bleeding.

"Put up with what?" 23 asked over his notebook and pen.

"Her..." Riku paused, trying to find a way to describe Larxene C's annoyingness, cruelty, rudeness, crudeness and everything else in one word. He couldn't think of one.

"Of her being _her_," he said finally.

"The mocking's pretty new, actually," 23 said with a shrug. "Obviously you seem to be able to elicit different responses from her."

"Well, I'm not gonna lie," Larxene C said, casually leaning back in her chair-quite the feat since she was still tied to it. "His face is quite the break from yours."

23 frowned, unsure whether to resent that or not.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Riku asked, turning to 29, who was leaning casually against the wall (much in the way Axel would) and glaring at the Larxene Replica.

"Anything I say wouldn't be appropriate to say in front of Joseph," 29 said finally.

"Joseph's not here…" Riku said slowly.

"I know."

"Who's Joseph?" Larxene C asked. "Is he that stupid little-" she paused, noticing the glare 29 was giving her. She swallowed whatever she was going to say and remained quiet.

"Alright, I'm going to go…" Riku said after a moment. "I should probably bandage this thing up." He shot a glare at Larxene C and then headed for the door.

"Is Namine here?" Larxene C asked before he managed to leave.

Riku stopped dead in his tracks.

"What did you say?" he asked quietly.

"I only asked if Namine was here," Larxene C replied.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I figured since you were here, she might be, too. I mean, I thought you and her were-" she trailed off.

"What?" Riku asked.

Larxene C bit her tongue and shook her head, refusing to answer.

"Oh please keep talking," 23 said, his pen scribbling across his paper. "This is excellent data."

Larxene C stuck her tongue out at him.

"What about Namine?" Riku asked, all pain from his arm now gone.

"Is she here?" she asked.

"Even if we weren't just going to kill you after this, I wouldn't tell you that," Riku spat.

"Why, would that risk endangering your _precious _Namine?" Larxene C said, her voice sing-songy again.

"Hey!" Riku snapped, turning to glare at her. "That's not- that's-"

"Did I hit a sore spot?" Larxene C teased.

"Shut up!" Riku spat.

"You know, Namine's actually quite famous, even on our side of the Rebellion," Larxene C continued, refusing to shut up. "'The Un-catalogued Replica' she's called. I think Saix is planning on fixing that problem, eventually. Though I don't know why he'd bother. I heard she was defective."

"That's it!" Riku shouted, drawing his blade again and getting ready to strike. He was, however, restrained by 29.

"You do realize she's letting at some valuable information for once," 23 said, scribbling in his note book.

"I don't care!" Riku shouted. "Just let me at her!"

"You do realize I restrain Joseph all the time," 29 said calmly. "He's a bit worse than you are."

"Let me go!" Riku continued to scream.

"Wow," Larxene laughed. "If I known the results were going to be this amusing I would have mentioned Namine sooner."

"You're lucky I'm restraining him," 29 said. "Though, I'm beginning to have second thoughts…"

"I'd be scared if I were you," 23 warned. "He never takes kindly to Namine being called defective."

"I wasn't talking to you!" Larxene snapped, shooting a lightning bolt at 23.

23 casually raised his shield. The lightning bolt bounced off the shield and hit Riku. And it hit the same shoulder where the rest of his wounds were. He let out a gasp of pain.

"Dangit! That hurts!" Riku shouted. "And I _hate_ lightning. _Hate _it!"

29 frowned, not quite liking restraining Riku anymore. Larxene C was starting to bother him again.

"Really now?" she taunted, subtly charging up another lightning bolt.

29 noticed this, and his frown turned to a scowl. He let Riku go.

In one swift strike, Larxene Replica C was dead.

"19's not going to be too happy…" 23 muttered.

"She was bothering me, too," 29 said. "If Riku wasn't already upset I would have… seriously injured her myself."

The door opened, and 19 walked in. He paused, noting the distinct lack of a Larxene Replica. "I was only gone two minutes!" he exclaimed, and then turned to scowl at 23. 23 just shrugged apologetically.

"She had it coming to her," 29 said with a shrug. "She called Namine... well…" he glanced over at Riku, who still looked rather upset. He hadn't taken the lightning bolt well. "The d-word. Well, not _the_ d-word, the other d-word."

19 turned to 29, not quite sure if 29 was insane.

"I'm used to doing this," 29 said after a moment. "Joseph, you know."

19 was ignoring that, and trying to figure out what exactly 29 had been referring to. The first d-word was probably disabled. Though… the second… Well, based on Riku being upset, and the fact that it was bad enough that 29 didn't want to say it, and the fact Namine was involved…

"Ah," he said, getting it. The other word was most likely defective. Which would explain… a lot.

"Well, we can always just capture someone the next time they infiltrate," 23 suggested.

"Who say's they'll infiltrate again?" 19 asked.

"They will," Riku muttered, looking at his smoking shoulder. "Well, at least it's cauterized."

"What makes you say that?" 19 said.

"From what I gather, Saix is too determined to let this go," Riku said.

"Do you think he'll use the same strategy though?" 19 asked. "Considering this particular one failed."

"My bet is that he'll just send more people," Riku said. "And we can take them. _Especially _if they happen to be of the Larxene variety. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go bandage this up."

"There's always the..." 23 began.

"_Not _using the Repair Program," Riku said, storming off.

"Boy he's touchy," 19 said.

29 smacked his forehead. Then the sound of crashing sent him running.

What had Joseph gotten himself into this time?


	18. Turned Traitor

**Author's Note: **(from forevermagik13): For those of you who were wondering what Joseph got himself into last chapter, let me just tell you this: 29 walked into the room to find Joseph dangling from the ceiling with a lamp, a giant squid, and a Shadow Heartless that Joseph affectionately named Fred the Second. (For those wondering where Fred the First is, see Nothing's Fair on rarmaster's profile.) If you would like to come up with your own story of what Joseph got into, kindly PM either of us or leave it in a review.

**Author's Note: **(from your dear rarmaster) I had to explain 14, which is why this chapter even exists. Though, I have to say, Riku made me laugh in this chapter.

* * *

><p><em>Sometime previously<em>

"Here."

14 looked up. That young boy, Joseph, was standing in front of him, holding an ice cream out to him. 14 raised his eyebrows, but slowly reached out to take it anyways.

"I get one for all the new guys!" Joseph explained happily. "Can I sit next to you?"

"Go ahead," 14 shrugged.

"Thanks!" Joseph laughed, sitting down and taking a bite of his own ice cream. "So, what brings you here, huh? If you don't mind me asking, of course. If you don't want to talk about it, then that is perfectly okay."

"Same as the rest of you, I suppose," 14 replied. "I'm tired of Saix and whatnot."

"Me too!" Joseph said with a grin. "Well, sorta, 29 was the one who insisted- anyways, that's not important. Are you good with computers or anything? Well, by 'good' I mean better than most other Replicas, because we all seem to be good with computers and-"

"I believe so, yes," 14 replied quickly, before Joseph could talk any more.

"Cool!" Joseph laughed. "I'll have to tell… someone… about that! Oh! I'll tell Alpha. He's the one in charge of the computers. Which is actually really strange, because he's not a Vexen Replica, and I thought Master Vexen only trusted the Replicas of himself with computers, however Alpha's really good with computers, and kind of in charge of the computers here. Well, as in charge as he can be, I mean."

"Right, I'll be sure to remember that…"

xx

_Roughly present time_

"Not another attack!" some Vexen Replica groaned. Riku was too tired to catch which one. The sound of quite a few dark corridors opening accompanied this, as well as the sound of many people summoning their weapons. That, and Joseph arguing with 29. Again.

"Are there any Larxene Replicas with them?" Riku called, refusing to sit up. He was determined to stay asleep, or at least comfortable, for as long as he could.

"Doesn't look like it, sir," someone replied.

"Good," Riku said. "Then I'm not moving."

"But sir!"

Riku groaned. "I'm tired and I'm irritable," he said. "I'd be useless in battle, so why don't you just leave me alone, and maybe I'll be in a better mood in five minutes."

_Two Sora sightings, both of which were false, that giant Heartless, Joseph almost getting himself killed, and now this? I am SO done for today. They can deal with this on their own,_Riku thought with a groan.

He wasn't having any luck at falling asleep, but he'd rather be laying here than nearly getting killed in battle.

_Maybe I'm selfish, maybe I'm lazy, but I don't really care at the moment. I'm TIRED._

His plans to be lazy were quickly thwarted however when he noticed something. Frowning, he sat up, watching two Vexen Replicas walk out of the room.

_That looked like 37…_ he thought suspiciously.

_Shwumph!_

Riku turned, eyeing the scythe that had just landed where his head had been previously.

"Would you have used the Repair Program if that had hit you, sir?" a Vexen Replica (he still wasn't sure which one) asked.

"Shut up!" Riku said, hopping to his feet and running after the two Vexen Replicas he had seen leave the room.

Thankfully, he didn't have to spend a while searching for them. As soon as he realized what door they had gone through, he had a pretty good idea where they were going.

Alpha's computer.

xx

"14! What are you doing!" Alpha shouted, glaring at 14. 14 happened to be guarding the door to Alpha's computer.

14 remained silent.

Riku rolled his eyes and drew his blade, taking a step forward. "14, I would move if I were you."

14, still remaining silent, shook his head.

Riku turned to Alpha. "What did he do?"

"He let 37 into my computer room, and won't let me in!" Alpha replied.

Riku frowned, turning back to 14. "When did you turn traitor?" he asked.

"Theoretically, 'sir', I was always a traitor," 14 replied simply, saying the 'sir' with much spite. "Though, I was also _never_ a traitor. _You_are the traitor."

Riku's eyes narrowed to a glare. "I never expected _you_, of all people to be-" he trailed off into something that sounded like cursing. "Never mind, just _move_."

14 shook his head, again silent.

"Fine then," Riku muttered, tossing his blade at 14. 14 jumped out of the way, and out of the way of the door, allowing Alpha to get in. Riku grabbed his blade and turned to 14 with disgust.

"I am incredibly sorry, honestly," 14 said, though sarcasm was dripping off his voice. "However, traitors must be dealt with accordingly."

"I agree," Riku muttered, charging forward. He unleashed a flurry of strikes at 14, who nimbly ducked and dodged out of the way.

"Why don't you fight back?" Riku shouted, pulling his blade out of the wall (where it had gotten stuck after missing 14).

"I have no intention of killing you," 14 replied simply, dodging out of the way of another attack.

"And why is that?" Riku asked, stabbing at 14. The stab actually grazed past 14's side, but did no more damage than that. "Does Saix want to kill me himself or something?"

14 said nothing, though he did not manage to dodge Riku's next blow, which hit his shoulder. He let out a gasp of pain. Riku took this moment of opportunity to shove him against the wall. 14 then sunk to the ground.

"Hmph," Riku muttered, stabbing his blade through 14's knee, pinning him there. "I would say that I trusted you," he sneered. "But I never really did."

With that, he walked away, going to go see if Alpha had gotten rid of 37 yet.

xx

"14, of all people," 19 sighed. "I can't believe it."

"Neither can I!" Joseph whined.

Riku grimaced, still trying to get the blood off of his blade. It probably hadn't been his smartest idea to stab 14 like that, however, it had been effective. A bit cruel, but effective.

"Won't he just use the Repair Program?" Joseph asked, turning to Riku.

Riku frowned, unsure _how_ Joseph had known that he had been thinking about that. But he shook his head. "He's like me. He'll refuse to use it," he muttered.

"Okay then!" Joseph laughed.

"Now what do we do?" 19 asked.

"I'm going to get some sleep," Riku said, rising to his feet. "You guys can figure out what you want to do about 14. I'm too tired to care."

Yawning, Riku headed to his room.


	19. Vexen Reports on Sora

**Author's Note: **conversation between me and rarmaster earlier: Me: Oh! We don't have a chapter to post for this! Her: Uh, that's your arena. Me: Oh yeah! I wanted to write about what Vexen thought about when Sora showed up at Castle Oblivion.

So... this is what spewed out of my brain. Vexen's brain is weird. And amusing.

We have now caught up with Dead Inside! This covers roughly chapters 3 and 4 actually. Here and there... bits and pieces. And, according to my rough estimate, this lines up mostly with what I've been posting in AtP. Port Royal-ish I'm guessing. Sort of... timey whimey... stuff.

Anywho! Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Things have gotten quiet around Castle Oblivion. It is as if Saix is taking a break from the failed barrages on us. Everything with him is always the same: send a handful of replicas to capture the Main Computer, create a distraction while 37 goes after Said Computer, then 37 has a spat with either me, Alpha, Riku or 29. But 29 really only stops him when Joseph gets involved.<p>

It has been a glorious four and a half days since we have seen anyone from Saix's side. However, we did have to throw out a Vexen Replica gone rogue two days ago. Apparently, he was beginning to see sense in what 37 had been saying and Riku (who else) made the executive decision to throw him out. However, Joseph did the actual kicking. (Literally, the poor Vexen's shins.) Vexen Replica Number 9, I hope you see sense before someone kills you.

Riku has since been directing all of his strength and attention to finding Sora. I do not know much about the Sora in this universe, mostly because no one around here actually knows the boy—save for Riku, who… doesn't talk to me.

20 gave Riku a tracking device to find Sora. However, it appears to be broken, since it hasn't yielded any results. Either that, or Sora is, in fact, dead.

Though, none of us will say that out loud for fear of our lives because Riku refuses to believe that.

I don't remember programming him to be this blindly stubborn.

Unless the real Riku… no, never mind. All of that would have been cancelled out when Larxene had that idea to rewrite his heart and I went along with it.

Curse my affinity for research and my (at the time) desires to know what the girl Namine could do.

xx

It has been five days and three hours since the last attack. We are all getting a little on edge due to the quietness. Riku is going to ask Axel the next time he drops by to see if he can figure out why the attacks have stopped. Though, that would require Axel to actually drop by. It's been awhile. Though, he has appearances to keep, since he hasn't openly chosen his side yet.

And I shall voice this nowhere else but here, but I can't help but be suspicious of the man. He does have a history of double-crossing people—in my home universe at least.

The search for Sora hasn't yielded much still, though it is all Riku appears to think about right now. One track mind… I can hold myself responsible for that.

Though, the device has simply taken to saying that Sora merely doesn't exist. 20 believes that assessment. Riku refuses to. Things are tense. Both from the lack of sieging and the lack of a certain Keyblade wielder.

Personally, I hope the Sora of this universe is found. I would like to study him and learn the differences between him and the Sora back from where I came from.

xx

Goodness! I'm scrambling to write! So much has happened recently…

Five days, four hours and thirty-two minutes since the last attack, and still no sign of another. For now, we will be grateful, this day is eventful enough as it is. An attack might just set Riku off. Though, he probably would succeed in killing everyone in the attacking party.

Axel dropped by. He spoke to no one (save for Joseph) until Riku showed up after going to fetch Sora.

Which, by the way, Sora was spat back up out of the darkness, more on him in a bit.

Upon Riku's arrival, Axel warned Riku that the Organization would want to turn Sora into a Heartless to get his Nobody—obviously for the purpose of Heart Collection, since Saix destroyed the Replicas who were doing that job. Riku didn't particularly seem to care. Though, at the time, he was carrying Sora's screaming body.

Axel then left. No one asked him if Saix was planning another attack. Oh well, we will find out about that soon enough.

As for Sora, he's asleep. Joseph has been assigned the task of notifying Riku when Sora awakens. Meanwhile, Riku is currently speaking with Alpha about something. About what, I am not privy to. I do wish that he (Riku) would get some rest though. I am nearly positive he hasn't slept more than two hours since the last attack, which was five days, four hours, and thirty-six minutes ago now.

Well then. Joseph just ran head-on into 29.

Either Sora has awoken, or something much worse has just happened.

xx

I am with Alpha on this, Sora's sudden lack of memory is oddly disturbing, yet intriguing. It is obvious that the boy is struggling with his darkness. Axel was correct in stating that the Organization may have no problem turning him into a Heartless for the purpose of acquiring his Nobody.

I wonder if his darkness has something to do with the lapse of memory. Perhaps the darkness wishes to keep him (excuse my lack of better wording) in the dark.

Or, because of all the dark deeds he has undoubtedly committed, his brain hit the reset button and refuses to remember because of the horridness of his actions.

I can't be too sure in my assessments, however. Not without knowing what all Sora has done. But Riku is the only person who knows Sora's darkest deeds and I am beginning to wonder if Riku himself wishes he didn't remember.


	20. Riku plus Vexen equals Meh

**Author's note: **hello! forevermagik13 here again! Some of you may remember this scene as it appears in 'Dead Inside.' If I remember correctly, the chapter is entitled 'Thoughts of Home.' This is just Vexen's take on the scene. And he's funny.

* * *

><p>Vexen sat on one of the couches in the Couch Room as Joseph affectionately called it. To the rest of the Replicas, it was merely the lounge. It was close to the entrance hall and was often in a state of repair because the Marluxia Replicas on Saix's side seemed to take enjoyment out of ruining said couches with their scythes.<p>

However, it had been nearly two weeks since the last attack and the lounge had become rather peaceful.

Vexen was currently writing out his thoughts on Sora's memory. He had a thesis and everything. However, Joseph kept working his way into the margins. Joseph had a habit of doing that—even when he _wasn't even there._

On one of the couches across from Vexen, sat Riku. He was currently staring at the picture that Namine had drawn for him. It had been a habit he'd picked up recently—mostly since the addition of Sora to Castle Oblivion. Vexen figured it was because now that Sora had been found, Riku had more time to think about other things—until he found something that grabbed all of his attention. Though, at the rate he was going, Namine was going to be that something.

The only other people in the room were 6, who was playing with some of Joseph's Legos; and a Marluxia Replica who was leaning back in a chair and snoring.

"I want to go home…" Riku mumbled softly.

Vexen's ears perked up. He turned to a blank page of his notebook, about to write another extensive report on the connection between his Riku and the New Namine. Granted, the report would probably turn out to be much like the other reports—all of which ended with Vexen saying that he couldn't make any further conclusions without observing the New Namine.

Riku sighed. Vexen waited for him to say something else, but he didn't.

Instead, Riku gasped in pain. He clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut, as if trying to ward off some horrible headache.

Vexen then began scribbling possible reasons as to why Riku had a headache.

.

1. Data Corruption (heaven forbid)

2. A lack of using the Repair Program

3. Merely being too old of a replica

4. A connection with the Real Riku

5. ?

.

"What the _heck_?" Riku wheezed.

Vexen was unsure whether or not Riku knew he was speaking aloud.

"Are you alright?" Vexen asked, standing up.

"It's just a headache," Riku muttered.

Vexen frowned, knowing full-well that what he had just witnessed was _not _merely a headache. However, he didn't want to argue with Riku too much—it never ended well.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked, against his better judgment.

"Yes," Riku responded, rubbing his temples. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

He moved over to where Riku was.

Riku frowned.

"Oh," he muttered. "It's you."

Riku then got the face that he always did when he had an encounter with Vexen. His nose wrinkled up, his mouth drew into a line and his eyes looked down and off to the side.

"Yes, it's me," Vexen said, trying to hide his annoyance. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"No," Riku said quickly.

Vexen knew he was lying. He sat down on the couch next to Riku. Riku tried to suppress a groan. Vexen pretended that Riku didn't even start to groan.

"You're _positive _you're alright?" Vexen asked.

"It's _just _a headache," Riku repeated. Vexen could detect the tenseness in Riku's voice and frowned.

Rather than upset Riku further by pressing the issue of the headache, Vexen took notice of the picture that was still sitting in Riku's lap. Vexen had never seen this picture before. Riku probably hadn't shown it to anyone.

The picture contained both Riku and Namine. The two of them were holding hands. Vexen raised his eyebrows at this. He was positive that the Original Namine had not drawn this. Therefore, the New Namine must have. Perhaps the relationship between the two of them was stronger than he had originally surmised.

Well, maybe not stronger… but different.

Vexen reached out to grab the picture.

"Hey!" Riku said, swatting Vexen's hand away.

Vexen ignored him and proceeded to take the picture to get a closer look at it—even though it wasn't going to help him much.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Nothing," Riku replied quickly. "It's…"

He groaned and rubbed his head.

"Can I have it back?" he asked, his tone of voice clearly stating that he wasn't in the mood for this at the moment.

Vexen handed it back to him. Riku looked surprised for a moment, but hid it. Vexen thought about scolding him for thinking so little of him, but decided against it.

"Thanks," Riku mumbled.

"Still pining after Namine, are we?" Vexen asked.

"Pining!" Riku asked, his voice quickly rising in anger. "It's never been that! It's… I don't know what it is…"

He grew silent after that, resuming the rubbing of his temples.

Vexen sighed and went back to the couch opposite the room. He figured that if he tried to say anything else to Riku, he'd end up missing a limb—and he couldn't heal by use of the Repair Program.

He flipped open to an older page of his notebook—one of the first reports he had written on the connection between Riku and the New Namine.

.

_What is his connection to this New Namine? This Replicated Namine, formed from his own memories? He certainly seems to care for her quite a bit. He is definitely tense to the subject anytime I, or anyone else, brings it up. I know he's threatened to murder Joseph on many occasions regarding it. (Though, I gather Joseph gets death threats from more than just Riku. I'm not sure why though, he's such a nice kid.)_

_ Riku obviously wants to protect this New Namine. But do his feelings go further than just protection? Is such a thing even possible?_

_ I must do more research._

_ Though, it would be much easier if this New Namine were here, so I could observe how the two interact. _

.

Vexen looked that over, frowning in thought. He flipped back to his blank page to write more.

_._

_Is my Riku capable of love and affection? I did not Program him for such things, but I have learned several times over that the Heart is unpredictable. The Real Riku was definitely _capable _of love, regardless of whether or not he felt such an emotion during his stay in Castle Oblivion. Could the Riku Replica pick up on some of that? Or would that have been interrupted when the Original Namine rewrote his heart? _

_ In addition to this, is this New Namine capable of love and affection? If Riku is, she certainly is—since she was made from his memories._

_ So it all comes down to whether or not Riku is._

_ I will have to wait and see._

_ And, as usual, this would be a _lot _easier to research if the New Namine were here as well._

.

After a while, Riku got up and went to his room. The Marluxia woke from his slumber and went elsewhere as well. Joseph and Sora returned from their trip to Twilight Town and Joseph screamed at 6 for having his Legos. Sora snorted and started walking to his room.

Vexen got up and stretched, figuring he hadn't pestered Alpha in a while in regards to the computer—he might as well. He kept telling Alpha he might be able to figure out the Master Override Codes, since he _was _a Vexen after all…

* * *

><p>Hey, stay tuned for Joseph the Banana King!<p> 


	21. Joseph is the Banana King

**Author's Note (rarmaster): **this chapter was SO MUCH fun to write. (honestly, I've got a ton of legos, i wanna go build this now) just... sigh

insane 6... insane...

* * *

><p>Joseph and Sora had just returned from their ice cream trip (in which they had made the bet about Riku and Namine). They were still laughing and discussing star shards when they returned, until Joseph noticed something.<p>

6 had his Lego's.

"Hey!" Joseph shouted, quickly running over. "That was my castle! I had been working hard on that!"

"But the spiders don't like bananas…" 6 muttered, carefully counting the Lego's in his hand.

"That doesn't make any sense!" Joseph said. "Now get away from my Lego's!"

6 shook his head, and continued on messing with the Lego's.

Joseph groaned as 6 took apart one of the towers. Specifically, the tower he had spent forever designing and building to his liking. He had just perfected it yesterday.

Only to have 6 tear it down and take it apart brick by brick.

"Stop it!" Joseph whined.

"I am afraid I cannot do that," 6 said simply, and then continued to mutter about spiders and bananas as he took apart and rearranged the castle.

Joseph watched in horror.

He had worked really hard on that, and had almost finished it, too.

6 continued to ignore him.

"Hey!" Joseph exclaimed, realizing something. "Where'd all my people go!"

"The spiders decided it would be best if they were thoroughly punished," 6 replied, pointing at a different part of the Lego structure.

To Joseph's surprise, 6 had built a rather well constructed building which looked a lot like a jail. Inside said jail was all of Joseph's little Lego people.

"Give me that!" Joseph snapped, quickly grabbing the building. He tore off the roof and glanced inside. He winced, noticing that 6 had gone through the trouble of taking the people apart completely. Not only had 6 taken them apart, but he had made it look like a massacre also, complete with a few still intact people that appeared to be screaming.

"That wasn't nice!" Joseph whined, sitting down himself and trying to put his people back together. It took him a while to find which head went with which body, and to remember who had what color legs.

While Joseph did this, 6 continued to dismantle the castle.

Once Joseph had finished, he turned around to try and talk 6 into leaving his castle alone again. However, something else caught his attention.

"Where did my dragon go…?" he asked slowly, glaring at 6.

"The winged lizard?" 6 asked, cocking his head to the side. He frowned and tapped his head, as if trying to remember. "Oh! Yes! It was a threat to the spiders. I got rid of it for them."

"What do you mean by that!" Joseph shouted.

6 ignored him.

Joseph groaned and quickly set about searching the rest of the room (rather frantically) for his dragon. He finally did find it. 6 had hid it under a couch.

By the time he had returned to his castle, it was almost completely destroyed.

Again, he groaned.

"6!" he whined. "Why can't you just leave my castle alone!"

"I am sorry, Mr. Banana King, but the spiders insisted," 6 replied very simply, ripping another wall off of the castle and taking it apart piece by piece.

"'Mr. Banana King'?" Joseph muttered, quite confused. "No wait!" he shouted, as 6 started to try and take apart one of the large cannons he had spent so long constructing. "Don't touch that!" He quickly snatched the cannon away from 6 and set it off to the side with all the other Lego's he had managed to rescue.

6 merely shrugged and set at taking apart another wall.

"Stop it!" Joseph said.

6 shook his head. "The spiders insisted," he repeated.

Joseph pouted for a moment, before he got an idea.

The only way to get through to 6 was to play along with his… weird game.

"Tell the spiders that the banana's WILL squash them if they don't leave the castle alone," Joseph said sternly.

"Squash!" 6 repeated, sounding horrified. "No! Please! Don't squash the spiders!"

"Huh," Joseph muttered. That had worked better than he had thought it would. He put on his best mean face. "Yes," he told 6 firmly. "We will _squash_ them."

6 stopped at his castle destruction, clearly at a loss of what to do.

Joseph held out his hand.

6 sighed and then placed the Lego's he was holding in Joseph's hand. After this he slowly rose to his feet and hobbled off, now muttering something about monkeys.

Joseph shook his head and set about rebuilding his castle.

This could take a while…


	22. Not a traitor yet

**Note from forevermagik13: **Oh Axel... you're just so fun to write for when you're either angry or being moody...

* * *

><p>Axel appeared in Castle Oblivion, his hood up. He wasn't sure how far they were into this attack. Well, rather, he knew that 37 and the latest group of people had headed to Castle Oblivion roughly half an hour ago. It had taken Saix all of two hours after being notified that Sora was no longer here to attack it again—though, he did have to go get approval from Xemnas first.<p>

Technically, Axel shouldn't know about this. But he had gotten rather good at learning information he shouldn't be able to know.

The entrance hall was relatively clear. A poor Larxene replica still lay on the floor. She was trying to get up and failing miserably.

_Huh_, Axel thought. _Riku usually destroys the Larxenes first, 37 must have _really _ticked him off…_

He walked over to the Larxene Replica and held out a hand to help her up.

"Leave now," he hissed, not letting her see his face. "If you do, you might live. Just, don't go back to Saix."

She spat in his face.

"Well, never mind then," Axel muttered.

He punched her in the face swiftly, doing enough damage to finish her off.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't particularly _want _to kill you."

He straightened up and started walking throughout Castle Oblivion, trying to see if he could find anymore replicas that were with Saix. He didn't particularly _want _to get involved. But he needed to touch base with Riku—and the sooner the better, especially with the raids starting again.

He moved through the hallways swiftly, not seeing anyone. He eventually got to the computer room, where Riku and 37 were sparring. Glowing black-and-white 'X's were over the computer room door and Axel wondered if they had actually figured out how to block an area off, or if it was just one of Alpha's illusions.

"I'll get through one of these times!" 37 spat at Riku.

"Fat chance," Riku said, nearly stabbing his blade through 37's leg. 37 blocked the blow though and sent Riku flying back with a bunch of ice-needles.

Riku burned through the needles with Dark Firaga and propelled himself back over to 37, landing a nice combo. 37 responded by freezing Riku in place, then shattering the ice with his shield. Riku paused for a moment, reeling from that blow, before landing another combo.

Figuring that this could go on for a while and deciding he didn't have time for this, Axel opened a dark corridor around 37, sending him back to The World that Never Was.

"Hey, I had control of that," Riku said, wiping blood from his nose.

Axel lowered his hood so Riku could see that he was rolling his eyes. "Please, you two would have gone on for at least ten more minutes like that. I get rid of him for you, and do I even get a thank you? No!"

Now it was Riku's turn to roll his eyes. "I was actually trying to destroy him so that maybe he wouldn't come back."

"And then Saix'll just send another Replica in his stead," Axel replied. "Especially since he now has the green-light to keep attacking."

Riku sighed. "And where were you _before _this attack to warn us? Or maybe even just five minutes ago, so you could help?"

"I can't openly be against Saix yet," Axel said. "Especially since I'm not exactly betraying the Organization—or, I'm trying not to, at least."

Riku sighed again, banishing his blade. "So what brings you here, now?"

"Did Namine arrive alright?" Axel asked. "I did send her here."

Riku nodded.

"Good," Axel said, leaning back against the wall.

"Thank you, by the way," Riku said.

Axel shrugged. "Eh, no problem. And I took care of 17 for you."

"Whatever. Is there anything else you came here for?"

"Well, no sense in warning you that the attacks will be amped up now that Sora's gone, you've already figured that one out."

"Do you have any clue as to why they stopped while Sora was here?" Riku asked.

"Xemnas didn't want Sora getting hurt. He still wants to turn him into a Heartless, you know."

Riku grimaced.

"I can keep an eye on him, if you want," Axel said.

_What am I saying? _he thought to himself. _Why would I want to… oh sheesh… I'm going soft…_

"No," Riku said. "I don't think he'd want that."

"Right, well, whatever," Axel replied, secretly glad that Riku had just saved him from that obligation that his big mouth had almost gotten him into.

"Anything else?" Riku asked.

"Saix doesn't know Namine is here, _yet_," Axel said. "Best keep it that way."

"I was planning on it," Riku said tersely.

Axel shrugged. "Just checking. I know you can get hot-headed and overlook simple details like that."

Riku growled. "Protecting Namine is one of my top priorities," Riku said. "I thought you, of all people, would have learned that by now."

Axel held up his hands defensively. "And again, just checking. Saix wants to catalog her, so watch out."

"Why would he want her catalogued?"

"Heck if I know," Axel said. "I have long since given up trying to even _understand _Saix's motives."

"Do I detect bitterness in your voice?" Alpha asked, coming out of the computer room.

"Nobody asked you," Axel said, turning away.

"Where are you going?" Riku asked.

"I'm gonna go give Joseph some more ideas about how to kill Saix," Axel said, not even turning around.

"29'll kill you if he hears that," Alpha said.

"I'd like to see him try," Axel scoffed.

Neither Riku nor Alpha figured it worth their time to argue that issue.

"No one's actually going to let Joseph follow through with those plans, are they?" Vexen asked, coming out of the computer room.

"I'm not," Alpha said. "I respect 29 too much."

"As annoying as Joseph is, I don't want him to get hurt," Riku muttered.

"I'm actually a tad scared of 29 when it comes to Joseph," Vexen admitted.

Alpha gaped at him. Riku would have, but he had been away from Namine long enough…

He started to form a dark corridor, thought better of it, and formed a different dark corridor, then disappeared.

Meanwhile, Axel had found Joseph and was currently giving him more ideas for Saix's murder, as well as better ideas of how The Castle That Never Was was laid out—and some random keys that he had stolen and made copies of.

"Now be sure to share those keys with Riku," Axel said. "He might just need them."

"What for?" Joseph asked, his eyes wide.

Axel shrugged. "I dunno, just share them if you need to."

"Can I share them with other people besides Riku?" Joseph asked.

"You can share them with Namine, I suppose. And _maybe _Alpha if you need to. But no one else."

"Cool! What do they go to?"

Axel laughed. "Well… this one is for…"


	23. The Search for 6

**Note from rarmaster: **i have to admit, this chapter was fun to write. Namine surprised me. seriously.

quick question for y'all (yes I did just say that). I need a way to classify the Marluxia and Lexaeus Replicas, and I figured I'd ask you guys. I can't wait to see what you'll suggest!

* * *

><p>"Where's 6?" someone asked suddenly. For the life of him, Riku couldn't remember who. However, it quickly occurred to him and just about everyone else that no one had seen 6 in quite some time now. Quite a few people were up and about, searching for him within no time.<p>

"Who's 6?" Namine asked Riku. "He must be important to cause this much fuss."

"Partially insane Vexen Replica…" Riku replied. "We just don't really want him causing trouble. And since he's partially insane… well… not knowing where he is isn't good."

"Oh dear…" Namine muttered, starting to understand the severity of the situation. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she grimaced. "He can't form dark corridors, can he?" she asked quietly

Riku grimaced. "I'm going to go ask…" he said, rising to his feet.

XXX

"Oh dear," 19 muttered when confronted with that question. "He probably _can_ form dark corridors. He has all the other basic functions."

Riku sighed.

"And why didn't you disable that function?" 23 asked, turning to Alpha.

Alpha threw his hands up in defeat. "I didn't realize he had it to begin with! And it's a bit too late now; we don't have access to the Program any longer. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do at the moment."

19 groaned. "Alright… We'll start searching the Worlds then. Hopefully we can find him before he does too much damage. Alpha, in the mean time, try and access that part of the Program. I don't care how, just as long as we can disable that function for 6."

"Maybe I can help," Vexen said. Everyone turned to him, a bit shocked. No one had actually noticed that he had been listening to his conversation (though, Riku wasn't that surprised).

Alpha groaned slightly. "I don't think that will be necessary-" he began.

"Let him help," Riku said sternly. "I don't want to have to deal with 6 running through the Worlds."

Even with his odd feelings toward Vexen, having 6 running through the Worlds was a tad more important thing to deal with. Riku couldn't let his… dislikes… toward Vexen get in the way of that.

Alpha sighed, muttering something that probably wasn't very nice as he walked off, Vexen following behind him. 23 watched them go, and then left out a different door, probably to get started with the search for 6.

"Riku-" 19 began.

"I know," Riku said before he could finish. "I'll help too. Don't worry about it."

"Can I come?" asked a quiet voice.

Riku turned, and slowly frowned. However, his frown was not nearly as deep as it usually was. Namine had been the one who had asked the question.

"It would be-" he began.

"Don't tell me that it's too dangerous," Namine interrupted. "You know my answer to that."

Riku sighed. "I'm just not sure if-" he began, but was again interrupted.

"You should let her go," 19 said. "What harm would it do?"

"Alright…" Riku muttered, forming a dark corridor. "You can come."

And though he still was trying to be slightly against this idea, a smile was threatening to form on his face.

XXX

Olympus Coliseum however, was having its own problems.

"Put that down! That trophy is for heroes only!" Phil scolded, desperately trying to get said trophy away from 6. 6 had wandered his way _here_.

"But it looks like a bunny…" 6 muttered, examining it. (The trophy did not actually look like a bunny, though).

Phil paused, taken aback by that statement. "Eh?" he asked. Upon receiving no response, he shook his head. "Listen, I don't have time for this," he said. "I've got to get ready for the games!"

"But it looks like a bunny…" 6 repeated.

"There you are!" came a very stern voice. "We have been worried sick about you!"

6 turned, recognizing the voice. Namine stood there, arms folded over her chest and tapping her foot impatiently. And though no one noticed, Riku stood behind her, doing his best not to gape.

"Give it," Namine said sternly, holding out her hand.

"But it looks like a bunny!" 6 said, yet again.

Namine frowned. "Give me the bunny," she said, a bit more nicely.

6 sighed and handed her the trophy, which she then gave back to Phil.

"I am _extremely_ sorry," she told him. "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

"Eh… no, I suppose not," Phil muttered. 6 hadn't done any major damage, just caused him to lose a bit of time. After a second he asked: "Do you know him?"

"He's my crazy uncle," Namine explained with a sigh. "He's not quite… okay…"

"I, uhh… see…" Phil replied, unsure what to make of that.

"C'mon, let's go!" Namine said, grabbing 6 by the arm. "We need to get you back home."

"But there's a turtle!" was 6's response.

Namine shook her head and continued to drag him off. Before long, Riku caught up to them.

"Crazy uncle?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

Namine shrugged. "First thing I thought of," she replied with a smile, completely ignoring 6 as his rants went from turtles to pandas. Now that they were out of sight from any possible bystander, she formed a dark corridor and dragged 6 through.

Riku quickly followed.

"Listen, Riku, I'll take care of 6," Namine laughed. "You can go call off the search." She turned to 6. "Now come on, crazy uncle, we'll go find you an actual panda."

"But I want a puppy!"

Namine rolled her eyes.

"Wow! Nice work!" Joseph called, running over to Riku. "That was the quickest I've seen _anyone_ deal with 6."

"I didn't do anything…" Riku replied slowly. "Namine-"

Joseph started laughing, and Riku turned to him with a glare. Joseph only started laughing harder. Riku shook his head and went to find 19, so they could call off the search for 6.


	24. The Wrong Twilight Town

**Note from forevermagik13: **Alas! The long-awaited Joseph's Adventures in Twilight Town! (The wrong one, that is.) Rarmaster and I worked pretty much together on this. I am now severely laughing at Riku and Namine. And I don't even think I can pick _which _Riku and Namine it is...

**Note from rarmaster: **all i have to say is: "yeah sure, whatever!" oh my gosh... just... wow dude. Wow.

**Note from forevermagik13 (again): **Oh, I've checked over my profile and all the links on it and nothing seems to be virus-ridden.

* * *

><p>"Can I go get ice cream?" Joseph asked, tugging on 29's cloak.<p>

"Not now Joseph, I'm busy," 29 replied, waving him off.

"But _everyone's_ busy," Joseph whined.

29 sighed, rubbing his head. There were no longer enough people to keep going with Joseph on his daily runs to Twilight Town. "Fine, you can go on your own, just you _need_ to ask permission before you go _anywhere_, got it?"

"Okay!" Joseph laughed, running off.

"6 doesn't count!" 29 called after him.

xx

_Sometime shortly later_

"Are you sure you're okay?"Riku asked.

Namine sighed and shook her head in disbelief. "Riku, I've told you a million times already, I'm _fine._"

"I'm just worried," Riku muttered. "This is the third meltdown you've had this week."

"I'm fine, honestly," Namine said.

The door opened. "Hey Riku, I'm going to Twilight Town!" someone called.

"Yeah sure, whatever," Riku replied.

The door closed.

"Was that Joseph?" Namine asked.

"Probably," Riku shrugged.

Namine just laughed.

xx

Joseph stepped out of the dark corridor and paused. Something was off. He glanced around. It sure _looked_ like Twilight Town. It just didn't quite feel like Twilight Town.

His doubts about Twilight Town were quickly pulled to a halt as he noticed someone.

It was Axel.

_Not often I see him here, _Joseph mused. _Maybe I'll buy him a-_

His thoughts about Axel were stopped faster than his doubts about Twilight Town. For around the corner after Axel came someone else.

"Riku!" Joseph exclaimed in shock, now thoroughly confused. "What is he- and why is he- I mean, he was- and- but he's- what!"

This didn't make sense at all. Why would Riku be in Twilight Town, if Joseph had just seen him in Castle Oblivion, talking to Namine. Riku wouldn't leave Namine that randomly, nor would they both just randomly decide to get ice cream. And that didn't explain Axel, or why he and Riku were talking so avidly. Well, not avidly, but definitely more than he had ever seen them talk before.

He was confused even more when Sora walked around the corner. Now, that wasn't quite that odd, but he was talking to Axel a lot, too. And from what Joseph knew, they had never met. And even if they had… why would they go Twilight Town together? This was just-

_Wait! Was that-_

Joseph frowned, and shook his head. For a second he could have sworn he had seen Roxas.

There was another person who followed after them. It was a redheaded girl. Joseph didn't know this girl. However, by the way her and Sora were talking to each other he could assume this girl was Kairi, who Sora had mentioned back home.

However, wherever he was now, this certainly wasn't home.

Despite being slightly freaked out by this, Joseph figured he'd investigate. Perhaps he had been hanging around Vexen Replicas too much, but he did want to find out more about these people.

xx

Meanwhile, Sora, Riku, Kairi and Axel were discussing why exactly they had come to Twilight Town in the first place.

"So, should we just look for this kid, or what?" Sora asked.

Kairi shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that he'll be here when we're here sometime. Namine said it was soon, but…"

"Hey guys!" came a chipper voice.

The four of them turned and were instantly shocked.

"My name's Joseph, what's yours?"

"Aren't you a little young to be going about giving your name out to strangers?" Axel asked.

"Uh… probably. But I've been to Twilight Town a thousand times and I've never had to worry before… except I'm pretty sure that this isn't my Twilight Town. It looks like it, but it's not right. Especially since you guys are here… I mean, you're obviously here, but you're not…"

He was met with four blank stares.

"Oh, am I rambling again?" he asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"A different Twilight Town, huh?" Sora wondered. "What if he's from Roxas' Twilight Town?"

Axel shook his head. "I think I would have seen him when I was sent in there so many times trying to get to Roxas."

"You know Roxas?" Joseph asked, his eyes going wide.

"Well, yeah," Sora said. "I mean, it's complicated…"

He tapped his forehead absentmindedly.

Joseph frowned contemplatively. "I thought I saw Roxas with you guys earlier, actually. But that's probably not possible… Roxas is… well, unless it's different here…"

"Where are you from, kid?" Axel asked.

"Castle Oblivion."

"Also not possible, at least, not the Castle Oblivion I know," Axel replied.

"This is just weird," Sora said.

Joseph's eyes went wide. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of it before? I mean, after Vexen and all. I think I'm from a parallel universe! Well, from your perspective and all. From my perspective, I'm _in _the parallel universe."

"I'll believe that," Riku said.

The other three looked at him in shock. Actually, Joseph looked at him in shock too. The Riku _he _knew was a lot more… well, less accepting about things like this. Though, that might just be Vexen.

At the blank stares he was getting, Riku just shrugged. "I've seen a lot of things over the years."

"Well, now that we've got that all straightened out," Joseph said. "How about we all eat some ice-cream. I'll buy!"

With that, Joseph ran off to the ice-cream shop.

_Well, that was easier than I had expected…_Namine thought.

xx

They sat on the Clock Tower a short time later, each enjoying their ice cream. Well, Axel had finished his, and Joseph was already halfway done with his own. Realizing this, Joseph frowned.

"I should have bought an extra…" he mused.

_Oh Axel, always so desperate for ice cream, _Roxas laughed.

Sora, however ignored him and turned to Joseph. "So what brings you here?" he asked.

"Oh, I come to Twilight Town a lot to get ice cream," Joseph explained. "I just ended up in the wrong Twilight Town on accident."

"I'd ask how you managed that," Axel said. "However, I am more curious about how you can afford to buy so many ice creams."

Joseph broke out into a grin. "Oh, I'm flat broke when it comes to munny," he said, reaching into his pocket. He produced three WINNER sticks. Axel might just have started drooling.

"However," Joseph continued. "I seem to have an abundance of WINNER sticks." He paused, looking at the three in his hand, and then dug around in his pocket for another. He did finally find one, and then handed a WINNER stick to Riku, then Sora and Kairi, and then Axel. Each thanked him, some more enthusiastically than others.

"Shouldn't someone have come with you?" Kairi asked for a moment, sounding a bit worried.

"Well, yeah," Joseph replied. "But everyone's been busy lately. Even all the people who used to take me. Saix's attacks have almost doubled, so more people are busy with that, and Riku's got too much on his plate at the moment to do anything but worry about-" Joseph paused, not finishing that sentence. "Anyway, 29 said I could start going on my own, I just have to ask permission before I can go. Which is actually a bit harder than you'd think… however, this time I asked Riku, and he was too busy talking to Namine to care about what I was saying."

That statement was met with silence.

Absolute silence.

"Wait… _what?_" Riku asked finally.

Joseph glanced at him, and then at everyone else, taking care to notice the various looks they were giving them. They were all definitely confused. Riku seemed freaked, Sora just seemed plain confused, Axel's jaw had dropped, and Kairi seemed a bit… distant.

"_What did he just say!" _Namine asked, freaking as much as Riku seemed to be. "_Or did I just hear him wrong."_

"_No… you heard him right…"_ Kairi replied.

Joseph laughed nervously. "Okay, so things are quite a bit different between the universes. I will be sure to be quiet about a few other things then… just to avoid this getting awkward," Joseph said, crossing a few things off of his mental list of possible subjects to talk about. "And that's awkward for you, not so much for me. The only thing that would make this subject awkward for me would be- uhh…" He paused. "You know what? Never mind. Just… just never mind."

"Do I want to know?" Axel asked.

"No. No, you really don't," Joseph replied, shaking his head to clear it. "I can't even believe I- umm… can we change the subject?"

"Sure…" Kairi replied slowly.

"You mentioned Saix," Axel said. "Is he been as annoying in your universe as he has been in ours?"

"I bet he's been more annoying," Joseph laughed. "Though, I have no idea what Saix has done here… so…"

"Well, Saix really hasn't done more than be a pain in the…" Axel began.

But Riku cut him off. "Saix is awful, regardless," he said with a wave of his hand. "Tell me more about me and Namine."

Joseph scratched the back of his head with the hand not holding his last two bites of ice cream. "Well, it isn't really you… It's the Riku and Namine from my universe…"

"And what's different about them as opposed to us?" Riku asked.

"Well, they're Replicas, like everyone else I'm around all the time. Well… except Axel, Vexen, and Sora. But Axel's hardly around Castle Oblivion enough anymore because he can't let the Organization know that he's working against Saix. And Sora's not around anymore because he's off fighting Heartless and being epic without me, and well, Vexen is Vexen…"

"Whoa, whoa," Riku said, holding up a hand. "Stop right there, too many tangents at once, back to the point."

"Oh, sorry, right," Joseph said, trying to get himself back on track. "Riku and Namine… Riku and Namine… how do you explain Riku and Namine…"

He honestly seemed to be having problems with this.

"Well, Riku likes to think he's scary. And he is, if you're his enemy. But on the inside, he's really just a big softie."

"Like you!" Sora said, punching Riku on the arm. He didn't seem too pleased.

"And Namine… well Namine is what Riku fights for. She'd probably fight for him too, given the chance. Oh, and they like each other. It's really obvious to the rest of us, but neither of them seem to see it. Sora and I have a bet to see when they'll actually get together. But, from the looks of things, I'm gonna win."

He gave a cheesy grin.

_A Namine and Riku… together…_Namine muttered to herself.

"_What is it you're thinking?" _Kairi asked. _"You're giving me a headache!"_

_"Oh, sorry… it's just… an interesting thought…"_

"'_Interesting'? Is that the only word you can give it?"_

"Did you say both of them were Replicas?" Riku asked.

Joseph nodded. "Yup."

Riku thought for a moment about the replica that was once made of him. But his mind was still reeling at the words "and they like each other." His brain couldn't think much coherently after that, he was just trying to hide it.


	25. Namiku makes Joseph Awkward

**Note from forevermagik13: **And! The second-half of the long-awaited Joseph's Adventures in Twilight Town! Yes, there is more! We last left our heroes rather confuddled at the thought of Namiku. Now, well, now we just get some more specialness.

**Note from rarmaster:** really? that was amusing, but still... anywhoo, Joseph's rants were SO much fun to write! And there might be a slight continuity error, but the rant makes more sense this way, and COME ONE Joseph's 11. his memory isn't THAT great.

* * *

><p>"So why is it that you see mostly replicas?" Kairi asked.<p>

"That's just who's mostly at Castle Oblivion," Joseph replied with a shrug. "I mean, the Organization had loads of replicas made."

"Replicas of who?" Sora asked.

"Vexen, Marluxia, Larxene, Lexaeus, Zexion, Xigbar…" Joseph named them off.

"Xemnas?" Sora asked.

Joseph shook his head.

"Consider yourself lucky," Sora muttered.

"That bad, huh?" Joseph asked.

Sora's nostrils twitched. "Yeah, we've got Xehanort replicas."

Joseph winced. Vexen had said how awful the Xehanort replicas from the universe he had come from were. Joseph sincerely doubted Xehanort replicas would be good in _any _universe."

"Did Saix make any replicas of himself?" Axel asked.

Joseph snorted so hard he almost fell off the Clocktower. Riku and Sora had to catch him.

"Ha!" he exclaimed. "Saix make a replica of himself? You're kidding right? He'd _never _do that. Saix _hates _the replicas, why would he want to _make _one of himself?"

"How so like Saix," Axel said. "So completely like him. He _hated _Xion…"

"Saix hated Xion in my universe too!" Joseph exclaimed. "Though, that might have been because she was slightly defective. But if she had let someone Repair her… but no, she was too stubborn. Saix destroyed her. And Roxas."

"_That _seems out of character," Axel said. "Doesn't Xemnas need Roxas for heart collection?"

"Yup," Joseph said. "And that's why Saix keeps raiding Castle Oblivion, so he can get the Program to make another replica of Sora."

"Wait, who was a Replica of Sora?" Sora asked. "Wow that's weird using my own name in a sentence…"

"Both Roxas and Xion were Sora replicas," Joseph said. "I _told _you, practically everyone I meet is a replica."

"Some things across universes are really different then," Riku said. "If Roxas was a replica and not a Nobody, then that would mean that Sora would have never lost his heart."

"Huh?" Joseph asked.

"Don't worry about it," Riku said. "It's just interesting, that's all."

"_Some_ things are different?" Sora asked, looking at Riku with a lopsided grin. "What were you implying was the same?"

"What?" Riku asked. "Oh, don't worry about it…" He frowned.

"Uh-huh," Sora teased. "_Sure._"

Riku pointedly refused to look at Sora. Axel snorted. Joseph was confused.

"So, Joseph," Kairi began, leaning over. "What does that make you, are you a replica?"

"Well, sort of…" Joseph muttered. "Well, yes. I'm just not a Replica of anybody. I'm an experiment that Master Vexen made in his spare time. Which… kind of makes it sound like a bad thing… which it's not! Master Vexen just wanted to see what would happen if he combined the data of more than one person. And he got me!"

"I bet he was so thrilled…" Axel muttered. Sora laughed at this, but did his best to hide it.

Joseph frowned. "I heard that!"

"Were you the only 'experiment'?" Kairi asked.

Joseph frowned. "Well, I used to have others like me. And then…"

He was quiet.

"Then Saix happened."

"Saix didn't like the experiments, huh?" Axel asked. "Figures."

"Does Saix like anybody?" Sora asked.

"That is a _good _question," Axel muttered.

"Well, he certainly doesn't like me," Joseph said. "I get death threats from him all the time."

"That can't be healthy," Kairi muttered.

"You get used to it," Joseph shrugged. "Besides, I get them from more than just him. And while Saix probably means it, I don't think anyone else does. Well… except that one time. I'm _pretty_ sure Riku actually meant it then."

Kairi laughed. "What did you do to make him so angry?" she asked.

"What do you think I-" Joseph began, and then paused, quite the confused expression forming on his face. "Sorry," he muttered. "Really sorry… To me it honestly sounded like Namine said it, and I was replying like I would- sorry."

"Don't apologize," Kairi told him. "You actually probably did hear her."

"Hmm?"

Kairi shrugged. "Well, she is the one that said it."

Joseph frowned. "What?" he asked slowly.

"Ah, well, Namine's inside my head, basically," Kairi explained.

Joseph blinked a few times, processing that. "Huh," he muttered. "And I thought _my_ universe was confusing sometimes… But… isn't it weird?"

"Yeah," Kairi replied, just as Sora replied: "Yes."

Joseph raised his eyebrows in Sora's direction, confused. Sora laughed.

"Roxas is inside my head," he said.

Joseph turned away, still thinking about this. When he turned back, he was surprised to see not Sora and Kairi grinning at him, but Roxas and Namine.

"Weird…" he muttered. He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, Sora and Kairi were back.

"Try being around them all the time when Namine or Roxas decides to talk," Axel snorted.

"It's not so bad," Riku said with a shrug. "I can usually tell the difference."

Axel rolled his eyes. "I can tell the difference! And Sora makes it really easy sometimes by saying that Roxas is saying it. Besides, I know what Roxas and Namine sound like. It's still just weird!"

"Question..." Joseph said.

"Hmm?" Kairi asked.

"Can you guys see... uh... well... for example, can you see both Namine and Kairi at the same time? Or one and then the other?"

"Yup," Axel said, almost immediately.

Riku had to think about this. He hardly ever _saw _Roxas, he heard him though. But, when he thought about Kairi and Namine, he realized that he saw Namine a lot...

"Yeah, actually..."

"I see both Roxas and Sora at the same time sometimes," Kairi blurted out.

Sora spit out the bite of ice cream he had just taken. "_What_?"

"Sorry," Kairi apologized. "That was Namine."

"Namine would," Axel muttered.

"Wow," Joseph said.

"So..." Kairi continued. "What _did _you do to make Riku so angry?"

"It's a funny story, actually," Joseph laughed. "Riku and Vexen were talking, and Riku just… doesn't like Vexen for some reason, and would prefer that Vexen just stayed the heck out of his life. I don't know much more than that, I'll have to ask Riku about that sometime… though… I doubt he'll tell me…" his voice slowly dwindled down to a mutter. "I suppose I could wait till he explains this to Namine. He's got to eventually, she's asked like a million times... and I'll just eavesdrop on them and-" he paused. "Sorry! I'm rambling!"

"Yeah, you were," Axel said simply.

"Continue," Kairi said.

"Where was I…" Joseph muttered. "Oh yeah! So, Riku and Vexen were talking, and I was just standing there, because I hadn't been told to leave or anything. And I told Vexen flat out that Riku loved Namine, which was slightly off-subject, but I did save Riku's butt in doing that, because otherwise he would have to explain something else to Vexen and… well… anyways, Riku just _flipped, _because apparently he didn't want Vexen to know that. I still don't understand why he freaks out when Vexen hears about these things. Though… maybe it's just how Vexen treats him… it's weird. But still, Riku freaked out and threatened to kill me. And I think he might have, if he hadn't been distracted. Though, I have to say, it's really funny to watch him when this subject comes up. He like… _can't_ admit to that sort of thing for some reason. I think at the time it was just because Vexen was there, but the rest of the time I think it's because he doesn't actually _realize_ it. He's really slow for some reason… but it's funny, because he can't deny it, either. So, all he can manage to do is tell whoever brought the subject up in the first place to shut up, and-"

"Joseph!" Sora interrupted. "You're rambling again."

"Sorry!" Joseph gasped. "I really am! I wasn't trying to or anything…"

"Wait," Kairi said. "So Riku loves Namine and he doesn't even know it?"

"He's a replica," Joseph said with a shrug. "I doubt he was programmed to understand such things. Sora and I have had this conversation actually... Riku may not really understand what his feelings toward Namine are because he's just not programmed that way."

_That makes sense... _Namine mused.

"Does Namine return those feelings?" Riku found himself asking.

Joseph nodded, giving them the face that any eleven-year-old would give on the subject of love-completely grossed out.

"I _never _get awkward," Joseph said. "Except occasionally when I'm around them and they're just... blech!"

Axel snorted.

Joseph opened his mouth almost as if to argue, but Kairi interrupted him.

"There's a Kairi in your universe, right?" she asked.

Joseph nodded, mind quickly and gladly swapping subjects. "I haven't actually met her, but Sora's mentioned her a lot. And Riku… might have mentioned her. Namine's mentioned her once or twice. She sounds like a nice person!" He scratched his head nervously. "Sorry I can't give you a nearly ask exciting explanation as I could give for everyone else."

"That's alright," Kairi laughed.

Joseph grinned. "I should probably get going," he said after a moment. "29 might confiscate my skateboard if I'm gone too long." He rose to his feet and opened up a dark corridor. He was about to step through when something occurred to him, causing him to pause.

"Hang on…" he said, voice much quieter than before. "Can I ask you something first?"

There was a general nod among the group.

"Actually, this question is mainly for Kairi," Joseph continued, still quiet. "And I'm only asking because I know my Sora needs to know. Hopefully this is relatively the same in this universe as it would be in mine… but…" Joseph swallowed. "Say Sora… did something… something that might have hurt you, Kairi-"

"Hold up!" Sora said, interrupting. "What did I- he do?"

Joseph shook his head. "He wouldn't say. All I know is that he feels terrible about doing it, and wishes more than anything that he could take it back." His gaze returned to Kairi. "You'd forgive him, right?"

Kairi was shocked, as probably everyone else was, due to the seriousness of this question. But after a moment, she nodded.

"Of course I would," she said. "Especially if he felt that bad about doing… whatever it was."

The grin slowly returned to Joseph's face. "I thought so!" he exclaimed. "Sora's got it stuck in his head for some reason that Kairi hates him. I don't get it… but I'll be sure to tell him what you said."

"Alright," Kairi laughed, a tad nervous.

"I gotta go," Joseph said, now grinning again. "I'll see you guys later! Hopefully!" He laughed and started through the dark corridor. About halfway through he paused and fished another WINNER stick out of his pocket. He tossed it to Axel, who caught it.

"Don't tell me you don't want it," Joseph taunted.

Sora started laughing, and soon they were all laughing too.

About two minutes, plenty of goodbyes, and Joseph starting to leave before thinking against it to say something, Joseph finally left. Before long, everyone else figured it was time they should be going, too.

xx

29 was waiting impatiently on the other side of the dark corridor.

"And just _where_ have you been?" he asked.

"Twilight Town," Joseph replied with a shrug. It wasn't like he was lying or anything.

"You asked permission?"

"Yeah," Joseph said, rolling his eyes. "I asked Riku."

29 frowned. "If I find out differently-"

"I know, I know," Joseph laughed. "I'm in big trouble."

And with that, he ran off.


	26. On the Many Accounts of Thistle

**Author's Note: **(forevermagik13) So this doesn't take place during a specific time, but rather over the course of... well goodness, according to rarmaster's universe... probably since... well, since probably right before Roxas and Xion's deaths up to about where rarmaster is posting in 'Dead Inside' currently. These are little short snippets of Marluxia Replica Thistle's life in the Rebellion. I hope they're interesting to you :)

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><p>Marluxia Replica Thistle was calmly walking down one of the halls, reading a book on insects that he'd found. It was very interesting. So interesting, in fact that he did not hear Joseph come barreling down the hallway on a skateboard. Joseph crashed right into Thistle, knocking them both over.<p>

Joseph apologized profusely.

"Didn't 29 tell you not to skateboard in the halls?" Thistle asked.

"No, not really," Joseph said. "He just keeps saying that it's for reasons like this why I shouldn't even have a skateboard in the first place."

Thistle sighed. This wasn't the first time that skateboard of Joseph's had caused him trouble.

29 caught up to Joseph. After apologizing to Thistle, he began to reprimand Joseph again.

xx

Thistle was napping in the main room of Castle Oblivion. He could probably just as easily go to his own room and nap. But napping out in the open seemed less reclusive.

He was startled from his slumber when Joseph cried out:

"Hey! I was working hard on that!"

Thistle sighed. He lazily opened one eye.

A Vexen replica had just trodden on one of Joseph's many plans to invade the World That Never Was and destroy Saix.

"Oops! Sorry, Joseph!"

Never mind. It was Vexen. Not that it really mattered.

He closed his eye again and tried to go back to sleep. But it was no use, he was once again wide awake.

xx

Thistle sat on a couch, pondering the meaning of his existence. A Vexen Replica sat on the other end of the couch. Every other chair and couch in the room was occupied by more Vexen Replicas. Amaryllis was dozing in another chair.

Thistle relaxed a little. There had been much unease after the unfortunate destructions of Roxas and Xion. But they hadn't heard any more word about what Saix was going to do next.

He was interrupted by (of course) Joseph. Who thought it would be a _great _idea to worm his way in between Thistle and whatever Vexen Replica…

Oh, of course. It was Vexen.

Joseph had taken a liking to Vexen.

Thistle sighed and scooted over, going back to his contemplations.

Like, why he had joined the Rebellion in the first place.

Though, the answer was really easy. He couldn't stand Saix.

That was a good enough answer for Alpha and 23. And they were the only two who asked.

Joseph and Vexen had broached the subject of the kids…

Thistle couldn't help but wince. Even though he wasn't a _particular _fan of the kids… he was pretty convinced that Saix could have dealt with them better, rather than just drive a claymore through some and Disable and dispose of the rest.

Another reason why he'd joined the Rebellion… Thistle did not want to be working for the guy who'd Disable you as soon as look at you.

Thistle had just finished that thought when the first raid began.

"We have company at the front door! And they're not friendly!" Alpha called out.

"Shall I set up our line of defense?" Amaryllis asked, suddenly awake.

"Yes, yes, I think that would be best," Alpha replied, his mind thinking of a thousand other things that he needed to be doing. "Where's Riku?"

"Yes, where is he?" Amaryllis asked.

Joseph replied that Riku was napping. Amaryllis suggested that Joseph go wake him up. Amaryllis hoped that that would keep Joseph busy long enough to keep him out of battle. Thistle knew that wasn't the case.

Alpha and Vexen went off to the computer room.

"You prepared to fight?" Amaryllis asked, looking right at Thistle.

Thistle summoned his scythe. "Of course," he said.

Amaryllis gave a curt nod and went off to gather more fighters. Thistle made his way to the front room.

xx

Thistle was moderately good at battle. He wasn't exceptional like Riku, or some of the other Marluxia Brothers. But he wasn't bad like Tulip. Tulip had needed to get an entire arm repaired after trying to take down a Lexaeus Replica. Tulip and another Marluxia Brother, as well as one of the Vexen Replicas had all needed to use the Repair Program after that first raid.

Thistle had managed to get through the entire battle without a scratch.

That turned out to be a common occurrence. Every other Marluxia Brother used the Repair Program at some point. (Tulip more than anyone else.) All the Vexen Replicas that fought used it at some point or another. Even Alpha used it once or twice when he had a particularly nasty encounter with 37. Vexen kept getting lucky and never getting injured past the point of minor scratches and bruises.

Riku probably got injured the most, but he never once consented to use the Repair Program. Thistle had to commend him a bit for this. There was a point in time where he wouldn't want to use the Repair Program either. But now he was curious as to what it was like—having gone so long without ever needing to use it.

xx

The attacks had stopped while that Sora boy was here. For whatever reason, they'd stopped.

Thistle was calmly walking back to his room. He'd had a rather exhaustive trip to Twilight Town with Joseph. He couldn't even answer to himself why he'd agreed on that trip. But everyone else had been strangely elsewhere and 29 looked like he was going to pass out from lack of sleep.

Thistle thought he'd be nice.

It wasn't too bad, he hadn't even needed to pay for the ice-cream.

But now, he was the one who was tired.

He couldn't even begin to grasp how 29 managed. He figured that Master Vexen had just programmed the Vexens differently than the Marluxias.

He opened his door, yawning as he did so. And looked at his bed.

He jumped about three feet in the air when he saw that someone was already in it.

Granted, the someone wasn't sleeping. They were sitting on the bed looking down at a wooden sword.

"My apologies," Thistle said, trying to be polite. "I guess I just walked into the wrong room."

Sora looked up. He looked as if he actually attempted to remember Thistle's name, but he failed.

"It's cool," he replied with a shrug.

Noticing how awkward this had the potential to get, Thistle backed out of the room.

Go figure, his room was next door.

xx

Thistle was walking through the halls, reading again. This time, it was a book about underwater plants. Reading while walking through Castle Oblivion had become one of his favorite past times as of late. He had gotten good to the point where he could avoid anything that was in the way.

He casually stepped over Joseph's skateboard for example, and continued on his way.

However, he couldn't avoid Joseph himself. Joseph ran into Thistle with quite a _thud_. However, since this was not the first time this had happened (to either of them) neither of them were very fazed and recovered quickly.

"Thistle! Come quick!" Joseph said.

Noticing the urgency in Joseph's voice, Thistle pocketed the book and followed after Joseph.

He couldn't help but gasp when he turned the corner.

A small, blonde girl wearing a white dress was collapsed on the floor, her face scowling as if she was in pain.

There was no mistaking that this was Riku's Namine.

"What happened?" Thistle asked, not sure if he wanted to be by a collapsed Namine when Riku showed up.

"She was on the floor when I arrived. She kept saying she was okay, but obviously she was just trying to make me feel better or something. When I told her that Riku would be back soon, she just fainted."

"We should get her to a room. Go find 29 or Alpha. Do _not _get 23 or 19, for they'll make a big deal of it. If you must, get 2 or Amaryllis. Inform them that Namine is here. I will take her to a room. I think the one down the hall from mine is empty."

"The one next to my room?" Joseph asked.

Thistle thought about this for a second, then nodded.

"No, don't put her there," Joseph said thoughtfully as Thistle bent down to pick Namine up.

"Why not?" he asked. He couldn't help but notice how _light _Namine was. She was almost lighter than Xion. And Thistle had only lifted Xion that one time because she had passed out because her data was collapsing…

Thistle hoped Namine's data wasn't collapsing. That would _kill _Riku…

"You should put her closer to Riku's room."

Riku's room, along with Alphas, 29's, Amaryllis', and a few select other replicas were on a separate floor. It was the same floor that the computer room was on.

"Is there an empty up there?" Thistle asked.

"Yeah, after we lost 11…" Joseph said sadly.

"Oh, right," Thistle said, bowing his head for a brief moment.

Then, he formed a dark corridor to the little hallway.

Of course, he would corridor himself to the wrong end. He passed Alpha and 29's rooms, then Amaryllis and 2's rooms. Then Riku and Snapdragon's rooms. Then he came to 11's room and a room that he vaguely recalled no one ever using.

Rather than go into 11's old room, he went across the hall to the already empty room.

It was the one next to Riku's anyway.

He lay Namine down on the bed and started to leave…

Then thought better of it, figuring he should stay with her until someone else could watch her.

Joseph came back with 29 and Alpha both. Alpha had a portable tablet with him.

"I'll do a scan," Alpha said. "She looks… well, she looks awful. 29, can you do something with Joseph please?"

"Aw, but I wanna watch!"

29 rolled his eyes and calmly led Joseph out.

"Do you need me to do anything?" Thistle found himself asking. There was something about the little girl laying on the bed that made him want to just do anything to ensure her comfort. Which was odd, Thistle thought.

Alpha shook his head.

Thistle shrugged and made his way out of the room.

He winced when he heard Alpha mention the words 'memory meltdown.'

xx

Things seemed to move rather quickly after the arrival of Namine. Thistle had asked Alpha at the first chance he got about Namine and the collapsing data thought.

Alpha assured him that such a thing wasn't the case. The only apparent problem was that Namine's memories had a habit of attacking her—a fact that Riku was already aware of.

Thistle was surprised when Riku thanked him.

'For bringing Namine to a comfortable place when I couldn't do that myself,' were his words.

Thistle was happy to be noticed.

After Namine arrived, Sora left. Thistle didn't bother to ask why.

After Sora left, the attacks on Castle Oblivion picked up within hours.

"I am so tired of Saix sending in all of these search parties," Thistle complained to Tulip as they walked the halls in between two attacks. "I thought we were going to finally be rid of them, but apparently not."

"Oh come on," Tulip replied, rolling his eyes. "You can't expect him to give up so easily. Even I knew that we couldn't keep them away forever. You'd better not let Amaryllis hear you talk like that…"

A small gasp from behind them made Tulip pause. Thistle and Tulip both looked over. Riku and Namine were sitting on a couch—Namine was holding her head in pain.

Thistle winced, this was not the first memory meltdown Namine had had after the original one she'd had upon coming here. However, it was the first one that Thistle had been around to witness. He subconsciously took a few steps back, knowing Riku to be a little testy when this happened. He instantly decided that he'd rather be dealing with attacks than having to watch this right now…

Something that Tulip had said triggered a meltdown.

"Oh shnap," Thistle heard Joseph say. Thistle hadn't been aware of Joseph being around—but he wasn't really surprised to find out that he was.

Joseph was patting Tulip on the arm. "Sorry dude, but you are _so _dead."

"Don't blame him…" Namine gasped. "It's not… his fault…"

Riku pulled Namine closer to him.

Thistle looked at Tulip and shrugged. Though he had to figure that Riku would _probably _spare Tulip because it would be pointless to dwindle the Rebellion's numbers… but still…

"Joseph has a point," he said. "We've all learned that Riku doesn't let anyone hurt Namine."

Tulip's face paled. He had the sense to just walk away.

"Ice-cream?" Joseph asked, handing one out to Thistle.

Thistle took the ice-cream without even a second thought.

However, he had to discard it when the next attack began.


	27. A Day in the Life of Alpha

**Author's Note: **So, yeah, I'm a horrible person. I left you all at a horrible cliffhanger (almost quite literally) in All the Pieces. However, I just FINALLY got my replacement FFVIII and have since been rescuing Rinoa and watching Squall actually GIVE A CRAP about something in his life. I've had this sitting around waiting for rarmaster to catch up, so I shall post this here and you may enjoy it. I've updated my FAQ on my profile again and there is a lot of new info. Is that it? I think that's it.

* * *

><p>Alpha jolted awake. He had fallen asleep over his computer again. Sometimes he had to wonder why he even had a bed. His computer was complaining that he had too many programs open. He sighed and began closing out of the ones he didn't need at that particular moment.<p>

He left three open. One was a hack he was working on to get back into the Replica Program fully. The second was his research on Miss Namine's memory meltdowns (since she'd already more than half a dozen since arriving here). The third was the Repair Program, which he always left open because _someone _always needed it—regardless of whether or not they used it.

Ahem, Riku.

Alpha put the hack on a temporary hold and returned to the puzzling issue of the memory meltdowns. That matter had proved to be more urgent. Riku was always a little…on edge when Miss Namine was having a memory meltdown. And he was not lying when he said that Riku did not fight his best when a memory meltdown was taking place. He barely could even think straight.

He pulled up the scrambled notes that Vexen had transcribed after talking with Miss Namine. The notes were thorough, but still a bit scattered and veered off the point a few times. (Probably because Vexen was _still _trying to figure out the connection between Riku and Miss Namine.) Though Alpha found the connection intriguing, he wasn't going to study it in-depth. More for Riku and Miss Namine's privacy than anything else.

Alpha sighed. Perhaps he should talk to Miss Namine… though he didn't see how it would help. She was just as clueless as the rest of them—the only advantage she had was that she actually experienced them. And Alpha could pretty much figure that that wasn't much of an advantage.

Alpha then pulled up the little bit of research and notes from the Original Vexen. There wasn't much on Miss Namine. She hadn't been around much before the Original Vexen's… unfortunate demise. She hadn't been catalogued.

Which is another one of the reasons why the raids were continuing.

Saix didn't _just _want the Replica Program anymore. He wanted to catalogue Miss Namine too.

And Riku was furious.

Furious was an understatement.

Alpha rubbed his temples. If he could figure out what was _causing _the meltdowns, he _might _get closer to figuring out how to stop them. Doing so would make everyone's lives easier—but especially Riku's and Miss Namine's.

His original theory was proving to be incorrect. Miss Namine had been in Castle Oblivion for nearly two weeks… and the memory meltdowns were not showing any signs of stopping or slowing down.

Though, there was an interesting pattern. There were lulls, where she would go a couple days without having them. Then she would have one every day (at least) for the next couple of days.

He was now modifying his original theory about Castle Oblivion. Perhaps it was because of Castle Oblivion's sheer sensitivity to data (due to the heavy abundance of Replicas and the random shards of data that were stirred up and thrown about every raid.) And because Miss Namine already had the tendency to have meltdowns, all the data floating (literally) about was making it worse.

But he was afraid to mention such a theory, because no one was going to like it.

Because that meant the memory meltdowns weren't going to stop unless Miss Namine left Castle Oblivion. And that just put Riku between a rock and a very hard place.

A second modification of his original theory was that Castle Oblivion was where Riku had all of his worst memories. Granted, it wasn't _this_ Castle Oblivion, but it was _a_ Castle Oblivion. And because Miss Namine was formed from Riku's memories, naturally, being in Castle Oblivion would trigger all those horrible memories to come forward and attack.

But that still didn't explain _why _they were attacking.

Unless Riku went through such a horrible experience…

Actually, that was likely. But why the memories would attack even with such tragic events…

Alpha was having a hard time putting that theory into coherent words. He had the basic idea of it… but it was hard to explain, even to himself.

A slight modification of that theory was that Riku, himself, was the problem. If that headache he'd had yesterday (was it yesterday? Alpha lost track of time when he slept over his computer) was any indication.

But he wasn't going to mention _that _without proof.

And he couldn't get proof without doing a full-scan on _both _Riku _and _Miss Namine.

And he would need full access to the Replica Program to do that.

And even if he could do that, he'd have to give some explanation as to why…

Though, he could probably just say "this may help" and Riku and Miss Namine would go along with it.

If he caught them at the right moment.

But he was still lacking full access.

Catch-22 all around.

He was about ready to just label it as a weird Replica disease and say it'll just go away eventually.

But then Miss Namine wouldn't be the only one with this problem…

Unless…

What if some of the earlier Vexen Replica's had this problem… and were disabled…

Alpha went to pull up that research.

However, at that particular moment, his hack program blipped.

"I thought I turned you off…" he muttered, looking over.

"Password breach failed. Stronger password present than originally calculated for."

Alpha sighed. He was running out of ways to program the hack to be smarter than the passwords. He had been able to guess some of the Original Vexen's easier passwords, and hack through a few others. (Before Saix had completely gone bonkers and Alpha still had access to most things.)

But the passwords that he was currently trying to hack were proving to be the hardest yet. (Go figure.)

Alpha was currently trying to hack into the Disabling part of the Replica Program. Seeing 4 being carried in by Lexaeus a couple of days ago had led him to direct all of the breaches at the Disabling section. He had learned two things since starting this direct hack:

These passwords were the hardest passwords.

They were still the original passwords.

The Original Vexen had _purposefully _made these passwords harder, to prevent abuse. And then Saix had just been _handed _them.

Alpha sighed. "Sometimes, Vexen, I hate you."

"Did I do something wrong?" Vexen asked, sticking his head in.

"How long have you been standing outside my door?" Alpha asked.

"Not long, actually," Vexen replied. "Have I done something?"

Alpha shook his head. "My Vexen, not you."

"Ah. I had a question…"

"Yes?"

"Was there a particular reason why we were keeping the chemistry set away from Joseph?"

Alpha's eyes widened. "Did you give it to him?" he asked.

Vexen shook his head. "No, but he found it. I think it was a Dusk who gave it to him."

Alpha sighed. It was nice to have some Dusks floating about that were _actually _on their side, as opposed to Saix's. Saix didn't like the Dusks, so he didn't make use of them. Xemnas didn't appear to care that some were missing.

So they had Dusks to help clean up after raids, and gather floating data and menial stuff like that. But they weren't supposed to do much else…

_Especially _not help Joseph!

A small explosion from deep in the castle made both Alpha and Vexen jump.

"Joseph," Alpha stated.

"Most likely."

Alpha got up swiftly and headed out. Vexen started following behind.

"Do you need any assistance?"

"No," Alpha said, waving him off. "Don't touch my computer."

Vexen sighed and stopped following Alpha.

If Joseph was lucky, Alpha would get to him before 29 did. He would have been luckier if it was Vexen. But Vexen hardly reprimanded Joseph.

And Joseph had been allowed to get away with too many things lately. It was partially their fault, what with the raids on Castle Oblivion, and beginning to think of raiding The World that Never Was (one unsuccessful raid down, countless more to go). But Joseph needed _some _discipline—and not just from 29. Joseph was getting good at getting around 29's words.

xx

A Nobody that certainly _wasn't _a Dusk was lurking in one of the hallways.

Alpha pulled out his lexicon, ready to strike.

"Relax, he's with me," came a cocky voice from behind him.

"Axel," Alpha said, not even turning around.

"Yo."

Rather than ask why Axel was there, because _that _question would lead to any number of vague answers. Alpha asked instead why there was an Assassin floating about.

"I'm training him," Axel replied. "At least, I think it's a him. I can't really tell gender."

"Training, like a dog?" Alpha asked.

"Yup," Axel replied. "Training him to be able to sense when a raid's coming. As a warning signal for you guys. He's new, has no ties to Saix. Figured it be a nice opportunity to test my command over my little minions."

"Why not just send a warning," Alpha asked.

"Too obvious. If this guy's already here, then he can warn someone, and be out of sight before someone with Saix notices. I do have appearances to keep."

Alpha sighed.

"Right, well I'm going to go handle Joseph now," he said. "Shall I just leave _any _Assassin alone then, if I find any more?"

"Please do," Axel said. "Saix thinks it beneath him to try and control anyone else's Nobodies. Or at least mine, Demyx's or Luxord's. Though, I think Xemnas, Xigbar and Xaldin would get on him if he tried to control any of theirs too… so, yeah."

Alpha frowned, wondering why the Original Zexion had never been giving a Nobody to control. Though, none of the original Castle Oblivion team had been rewarded a Lesser Nobody to control—save for Axel. But he was the only one to survive that.

Anyway, he had Joseph to worry about.

He started walking off again, not oblivious to the fact that Axel was following him.

"I don't think you're going to be any help reprimanding Joseph," Alpha said curtly.

"What did he do this time?"

"Found the chemistry set."

"Really now? I thought we hid that well enough."

"According to Vexen, it was a Dusk to get it."

Now Axel frowned. "Odd, I didn't know Dusks…"

"Neither did I," Alpha said.

They found Joseph in one of the spare rooms. He sat dead in the center, a smoking pile of… something sitting across from him. His face was covered in soot.

"That was awesome!" he said, looking at them.

Alpha crossed his arms over his chest and began tapping his foot.

"How did you get the Dusks to get that for you?"

"I can get them to listen me."

Axel and Alpha were both shocked by this news.

"Great," Alpha muttered. "Just what we need."

"Ya know," Axel said, tapping his chin with a finger. "We could use this to our advantage."

Joseph perked up at this.

Alpha sighed. Neither Riku nor 29 were going to like this.


	28. Looking for Miss Namine

**Author's Note: (forevermagik13) **You can honestly thank Joseph for this chapter. Which is funny, because he doesn't usually reside in my head. However, rarmaster gave me the go-ahead for this chapter (And then helped me tremendously with the conversation between Namine and Joseph toward the end there.)

* * *

><p>The unmistakable sound of dark corridors appearing penetrated Castle Oblivion.<p>

Namine and Riku had been sitting next to each other on the couch. Several other people lounged about. Joseph sat in the middle of the floor, doing something actually as harmless as coloring.

"Get out of here!" Riku hissed, looking at Namine. "They're looking for you."

Namine was about to form a dark corridor of her own as means of escape, when Joseph spoke up.

"Here, let me take her somewhere," he said.

Riku frowned, not sure if he liked this idea.

"You do realize that Joseph knows more about Castle Oblivion than the rest of us put together?" 29 whispered. "Because he's spent every day since the Rebellion started learning every hiding space to hide when he's in trouble?"

Riku sighed. He turned to Joseph.

"If something happens to her, I'll kill you myself," he said.

Joseph saluted.

Had the situation been different, Namine would have chastised Riku for threatening to kill Joseph, but now wasn't really the time.

Joseph reached over and grabbed Namine's hand. He then led her through a dark corridor of his own.

"Well, there, now we won't have to worry about him in battle," Amaryllis said.

Riku couldn't really argue with that, but he was still worried that something would happen to them. Joseph couldn't really fight… but 29 was right when he said that Joseph knew every hidey-hole in Castle Oblivion.

Riku then turned to the lovely raiding party. It consisted of one Lexaeus Replica, two Marluxias, one Larxene, and one other Vexen besides 37.

"Let's take 'em out," Riku said, charging after the Larxene, merely because he wanted to kill her before she talked.

Though, if she did start talking, she'd probably piss Riku off to the point where he'd just kill her anyway. Moral of the story, that Larxene Replica was doomed to die.

"Hey! You used to be on our side!" said one of the Marluxia Replicas, looking at the only Lexaeus Replica on the Rebellion.

"Yes," he replied stiffly. "And then Saix disabled 4."

The Marluxia Replica didn't have an argument for that. Though, that might have been because Snapdragon and Amaryllis started fighting him.

"Do you just hate me or something?" the Larxene Replica asked Riku, sending a lovely blast of lightning in his direction.

"Yes," Riku replied, dodging the lightning. "Especially when you do _that_!"

"Ooh, does poor little Riku not like lightning? How about I send some more his way?"

She did just that. Riku backflipped out of its reach.

"Where's your precious Namine?" she asked. "I know she's here."

Riku growled and landed a combo on the Larxene Replica's head. Sadly, it didn't kill her. However, she was left rather reeling from the blow.

"Why do you protect her so much?" she asked. "I mean, she's not the most…"

"Shut it Larxy!" one of the Marluxia's (the one not dealing with Amaryllis and Snapdragon) hissed. "He's just going to kill you faster!"

"Don't call me Larxy!" she shrieked.

She shouldn't have responded, Riku plunged his blade through her chest when she wasn't looking.

"Didn't want to hear what you had to say anyway," he told her disappearing body.

Then he turned to the Marluxia Replica.

"I didn't say anything!" he said.

"Yeah, but you're on Saix's side," Riku replied, launching into Helm Split.

xx

"Joseph," Namine said, looking around. "Are we in Twilight Town?"

Joseph nodded. "They can search all of Castle Oblivion if they want, but they aren't gonna find you. Because you aren't there!"

"That's a good idea!" Namine exclaimed. "But then how are we going to know when the raid's stopped? Riku comes to my room right after…"

Joseph frowned, he hadn't thought of that part. "Well, how long do the raids usually last?"

Namine shrugged. "I really haven't paid any attention."

Granted, she had a meltdown every other raid or so. And she had no concept of time when she was having a meltdown.

"Well, I think we have time to get an ice-cream, don't you?" Joseph asked, looking hopeful. "Then we can just go back to Castle Oblivion and hide out somewhere. 29 and Riku both know we're supposed to be hiding."

"Yeah, that's true…"

"So, ice cream?"

Namine laughed, then nodded.

"Shweet!" Joseph said.

xx

The only two casualties so far had been one Marluxia Replica, and that Larxene Replica. Both of them had come with 37, and both of them had been killed by Riku. Now most of everyone's attention was being focused on the Lexaeus Replica. A few people were focusing on the Vexen Replica. The second Marluxia Replica had accompanied 37 to gather the Program—considering 37 never seemed to be able to manage it by himself because Alpha always had a couple of Vexen Replicas to help him.

"Please!" the Vexen Replica pleaded. "Have mercy! I have information!"

"How can we trust you?" 19 asked. "You're on _their _side."

"Please, let me just tell you what I know. You can decide if it's truthful or not. I don't want to fight anymore!"

"Oh someone just take him into custody," Riku said. "I think we can keep him from causing harm."

Thistle rushed to aid 19 in taking the Vexen Replica away.

"Wonder what he has to say," 23 wondered.

"Don't know, don't really care," Riku replied. "But if he's gonna go and snivel like that and say he has information, I'll let him talk."

"You won't even be the one questioning him," 29 said.

Riku shrugged. "It doesn't matter right now. We have to take care of the rest of the people."

Granted, now that the Vexen Replica was no longer a problem, it was only the Lexaeus Replica. This raiding party hadn't been as prepared as others it seemed.

"You should go after 37," Snapdragon said. "Especially since he has help. He may be after more than just the Program."

Which Riku took to mean: Make sure Namine is safe, because I don't want to deal with you if she isn't.

Riku gave a curt nod and formed a dark corridor to where the computer room was. 37 and his Marluxia helper were most likely going to be there.

xx

"So, Joseph," Namine said, swinging her legs over the edge of the Clock Tower. "Was this just one of your ploys to get ice-cream?"

"I suppose," Joseph said with a shrug. "It's been a while since I've had ice-cream."

Namine laughed. "But don't you go by yourself if you ask permission?"

Joseph shrugged. "I do, but it's boring without someone to go with."

"Maybe I could go with you sometimes," Namine suggested.

"Yeah," Joseph said. "Except you're always with Riku."

Namine wasn't sure what to say to that. She bit her lip.

"Well… maybe I could convince him to come, too," she said after a moment.

Joseph grimaced. He opened his mouth, and then paused, not sure how he was supposed to explain the fact that being around the two of them together was… well… awkward. Finally, he just settled on: "Riku doesn't really like me…"

Namine sighed. "Okay, well, how about this? Next time Riku's busy, we'll go get ice cream." She turned to Joseph and smiled.

Joseph slowly took a bite of his ice cream. Once he had swallowed, he grinned. "Sure, if you don't mind!" he replied.

Namine laughed. "It's no problem."

"Cool!"

"So Joseph-" Namine began, but was forced to pause due to a bit of poor planning. She had taken a bite of ice cream right as she had started that sentence. She finished chewing, swallowed, and continued what she had been saying. "This might be a random question, but why doesn't Riku like you?"

"I annoy him," Joseph replied simply, sounding the least bit bothered by this.

"Do you have any idea why?" Namine asked slowly.

"Nope!" Joseph laughed.

"Doesn't that bother you?"

Joseph shrugged. "Not particularly."

xx

37's Marluxia helper had come in handy, considering he was the one who currently had Alpha in a headlock. 37 was questioning Alpha, completely ignoring the now unconscious Vexen Replica lying on the ground. (He had an icicle spear going through his leg.) Granted 37 could probably ignore said unconscious Vexen Replica because he had been the one to stab the icicle through his leg.

"If you give me the Program, I'll tell Saix that Namine isn't here," 37 said coolly.

"I'm not going to give you access to the Program," Alpha replied stiffly.

37 frowned. "Does your lack of mentioning Namine mean that she is actually here?"

Alpha didn't respond.

"Where is the infamous Miss Namine?" 37 spat.

"I honestly don't know," Alpha replied, his voice level.

"She has to be here, doesn't she? She's always with Riku!"

"I can honestly tell you, that right now, Namine is not with Riku," Alpha said.

"How do you know?"

Alpha tilted his head slightly forward, gesturing to behind where 37 was standing. 37 spun around and was face-to-face with Riku. Just as Alpha had said, Namine was not with him.

"Leave now and I'll pretend that you never said a word about Namine," he said, his voice flat.

"She's here, isn't she?" 37 said, his eyes narrowing.

"I'm not about to tell you," Riku spat.

37 flinched. He raised his hand and formed a dark corridor around himself. The Marluxia Replica did the same.

"I should've killed him," Riku muttered.

"You say that every time," Alpha told him, rubbing his neck where the Marluxia Replica had been pressing a scythe. There were only a couple of drops of blood.

"Are there still others?" he asked.

"Just a Lexaeus Replica," Riku replied. "Though I'm sure they've handled him by now. The only other one was a Vexen Replica that begged to be taken into custody."

"Why?"

"Said he had info."

"Is it any good?"

Riku shrugged. "I don't think anyone's questioned him yet. Well, 19 may have started."

"So we take people into custody now?"

Riku shrugged again. "I just know that if he's lying, or just said that so we won't kill him—he'll wish he died in battle."

Alpha grimaced.

"Here, can you help me get 26 into the computer room?" he asked.

"Sure," Riku said, banishing his blade. He was itching to get back to Namine, but he'd have to go hunting after wherever Joseph had taken her…

* * *

><p>(Yes, I promise there is more to come. Riku and Namine will be reunited and that pesky Vexen Replica will have to be questioned. Why do I sound like I'm introducing next week's episode of some TV show?)<p> 


	29. Riku can ALWAYS find Namine

**Author's Note: **Thank you rarmaster, for your excellent betaing, and telling me how meltdowns are supposed to be written. That sure was interesting lol.

**Author's Note (from rarmaster): **i have to admit, forevermagik13 did an EXCELLENT job at writing this meltdown. =D

* * *

><p>"All right," 19 said, looking at the captive Vexen Replica. "Tell us what you know."<p>

"Is it necessary that _he's _here?" the other Vexen Replica said, jerking his head to Thistle. "He could at least banish the scythe. I'm bound to a chair here, it's not like I'm going to do any harm."

"You're lucky I'm not Riku," Thistle said, getting rid of the scythe. He could just summon it again if he needed it anyway.

"You going to talk now?" 19 asked.

"It's Namine, we know she's here."

"Tell us something we _don't _know," 19 said, sounding rather bored. He hadn't even started writing on his notepad yet.

"How do you know that?"

19 and Thistle exchanged glances. Neither one of them wanted to admit that it was Axel who had told them originally.

"Well, it's rather obvious, don't you think?" Thistle asked.

19 made a mental note to compliment Thistle on that save.

"Besides," Thistle continued. "Do you _know _how much your Larxene Replicas give away without even realizing that they do it?"

19 snorted. "They give more away when Riku's fighting them then they do when we have them bound to a chair."

The Vexen Replica frowned. "You've taken prisoners before?"

"After the first couple of raids," 19 said with a nonchalant shrug. "Do you have anything _else _to tell us?"

The Vexen Replica frowned. "Wait, are you confirming that Namine is actually here?"

"You just said that you knew she was!"

"Well, we have reason to believe it, but we haven't actually seen her…"

Thistle snorted. "Then you really don't know that she's here at all."

"Are you confirming it?"

"We're not going to tell you!" 19 exclaimed.

"Even if we _were _going to admit she was here, you'd have to know that she'd be under the best of protection at all times," Thistle said.

19 refrained from laughing. Currently, the 'best of protection' was Joseph.

"But I'm not saying she's here, and I'm not saying that's she's not. Carry on with information that we don't know," Thistle said. Now _he _sounded bored.

"Well, assuming that she's here, Saix wants her captured…"

"So he can catalog her, we know," 19 said.

The Vexen Replica frowned, trying to work out in his head how they knew all this stuff. Perhaps the Larxene Replicas should stop being told things…

"Ideally," he continued. "She would be captured in a raid, when there is so much going on that no one would notice her missing until too late. However, if that proves to not be effective, Saix will start sending in individual people to capture her because stealth would be best."

19 actually wrote this down. "And you fear your destruction so much that you'd tell us all of this?" he asked.

The Vexen Replica shrugged.

"What number _are _you, anyway?" 19 asked. "Usually, I'm pretty good at distinguishing us, but I have got _nothing _on you."

"I _was _Number 5," the Vexen Replica said.

"But 5 was Dis…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Saix reinstated a whole bunch of us after Rewriting us."

"He has that much access to the Program?" 19 wondered. Though, Saix _did _have all the passwords… he was really just lacking the ability to create an entirely new replica. Rewriting was probably within his abilities.

"Great," he muttered. "Well, thanks for that bit of info, it was more helpful than the stuff on Namine."

"Riku would think otherwise," Thistle muttered.

19 shrugged.

"Is that all?" he asked the Replica formerly known as 5.

5 nodded.

"What are we going to do with him?" Thistle asked.

19 frowned. "We don't typically keep prisoners… I suppose we could take a vote."

"Everyone?"

19 shrugged. "Sure, why not."

"Even Joseph?"

19 thought about this one. "Well, I would say yes, out of fairness to everyone here, but 29 might have other thoughts about letting Joseph vote whether or not someone gets to live."

"Well, we all know Joseph wants Saix to die," Thistle said.

"Who doesn't?" 19 asked rhetorically.

"Well, do we have a prison?" Thistle asked.

"We can make one," 19 said. "At least temporarily."

"Sounds good to me."

"So you're just going to leave me here?" 5 asked.

"Uh, yeah, what were you expecting?"

"I'd keep your mouth shut about Namine," 19 said. "Rumor has it that if Riku hears you talking bad about her, he'll appear out of thin air and kill you where you stand."

xx

Joseph had already finished his ice cream, Namine was down to the last few bites. They had spent the majority of the time talking about the Rebellion, Sora, and things that Namine didn't know about Castle Oblivion yet because she merely hadn't asked Riku.

"I suppose we should probably head back soon," Joseph said. "No doubt everyone's been taken care of by now."

Namine smiled a little. She wondered how exactly these things went. She knew a little, from what Riku told her, and from what spilled out onto the page in front of her—but a small part of her wished she could watch, just once.

Upon second thought, as flickers of Riku's memory were brought to the front of her mind, maybe she didn't.

Joseph saw her grimace. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Then the pain started, Namine reached up to clutch her head. The last few bites of her ice cream fell out of her hands, dropping to the front of the station far, far below.

_"That's a stupid question," _she heard a voice, that sounded oddly like herself, say. _"Of course you're not okay. I just… I'm sorry… I'm so, so, so sorry. I didn't want to do this, but…"_

She gasped at the image that became clear with those words:

_Riku, lying cold and still, his head and arms facing weird directions. He looked as if he had just been thrown there… herself sitting beside him, unable to do anything._

"Namine!" she heard Joseph call out to her, but she was past the point of responding. She felt Joseph's hands on her arms and she registered him pulling her back away from the edge of the Clock Tower, but after that, she was lost to the memories.

_"If Namine uses her power to erase your memory, you'll be nothing but an empty shell. Your heart will no longer be able to feel, or to care. Just like Vexen's _pathetic _imitation of your Riku."_

_ "Take another guess!"_

_ Riku came barreling out of a dark corridor, sword already drawn against Marluxia…_

The memory fuzzed a bit, before it became clear again, but it was still the same memory.

_ "You're a shell! A shell who has had everything taken…everything!"_

_ "What can you possibly think I ever had? Both my body and my heart are fake. But, there is one memory that I will keep—even if it is just a lie! Whether it was a phantom promise or not: I will, protect Namine!"_

The memory blurred entirely, then it changed.

_All she could see was a giant, white, door. Then, from behind her, she heard Sora speak:_

_ "Riku, protect Namine."_

_ "You don't…mind?"_

_ "Should I?"_

The memory shifted again.

_She could see Riku's back, staring upwards at a large Mansion. _

_ "Hold it!" Riku said. Except, it was not the Riku in front of her, but rather, a second Riku._

_ "You've changed," he continued. "Your own darkness, it doesn't frighten you anymore."_

_ "How can you tell?"_

_ "Because I'm you."_

The memory changed.

_"Are you alright?" Kairi asked. _

_ "Yeah, I'm alright," Riku responded. _

_ "Are you sure about that? What happened to you?"_

_ "I don't… know…"_

Shift.

_"You ready, Sora?" Riku asked. _

_ "Yeah!" Sora replied. _

_ The two began to fight._

Namine wished she could hang onto that memory, it was peaceful and reminded her of a time when things were almost normal… before Sora had gone…

Her thought didn't get much farther than that, the memory changed.

_"Riku…" Kairi said quietly._

_ "Go away! You don't want to talk to me!"_

_ "What?" Sora asked. "Of course we want to talk to you, Riku. What would make you think that we wouldn't?"_

_ "I'm not Riku!"_

Change.

_"Do you know of anyone named Namine?"_

_ "Why yes, we do…"_

Change again.

_"I died here…"_

That last memory she recognized, those were the words that Riku had spoken to her.

_"Namine," Riku said._

"Namine!"

Namine felt familiar hands around her and she relaxed into Riku's grasp.

"It'll be okay, I'm here. I'm here…"

xx

"Vexen!" Alpha said, kicking the door. "Open this door right now!"

"How do I know you're not being forced by 37 to say that?" Vexen asked.

Alpha smacked himself in the forehead. "Seriously? If you were listening, you'd know that both 37 and his Marluxia helper were gone."

"Where's 26?"

"He took an icicle to the leg…"

"Vexen!" Riku shouted. "Open the door or I will kill you."

They could almost hear Vexen sigh.

The door clicked open.

Riku had barely begun to bend down to help Alpha with 26 when he was blinded by a splitting headache.

"Not another one!" he growled, starting to form a dark corridor.

"How will you even know where she is?" Alpha asked.

"Easy," Riku said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Namine!"

As he said her name, he formed the dark corridor and rushed through.

Alpha turned to look at Vexen. "Help me with 26," he said flatly.

Riku was not surprised to appear in Twilight Town. He was slightly surprised to appear on top of the Clock Tower, but at the particular moment, he didn't really care. The headache had lessened: he was close.

He walked around the corner, to see Joseph attempting to support Namine.

"Namine!" Riku exclaimed.

She didn't respond.

He winced and bent down to pick her up.

"It'll be okay," he whispered to her. "I'm here, I'm here…"

She seemed to calm a little, but still did not respond.

"I'm sorry," Joseph said, looking scared. "I'm sorry! I don't know what I said or if I triggered it…"

"I doubt it was your fault," he said, his voice coming out strained. "I doubt you triggered it."

Joseph swallowed, unsure of what to say.

"I'm not going to kill you," Riku said. "Now let's get back."

Joseph breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to ask Riku if half of the death threats he made he actually planned on going through with, but now wasn't the time.


	30. Oh, poor 6

**Note from forevermagik13: **Character development all around! Rarmaster is looking to develop 23, so I pounced on that. Plus, I figured I'd follow up on that Assassin bit. And 6 just started developing himself. I'm responsible for the 23 and 19 scene, the Joseph and 6 scene, and the 19 and Alpha scene. Rarmaster took the 6, Namine and Joseph in Twilight Town scene.

aquabutterfly, Can't Escape runs parallel to both All the Pieces as well as the FtP/Nothing's Fair/Dead Inside. All the Pieces is my other fic, the other three belong to rarmaster. The majority of Can't Escape takes place in rarmaster's universe, with the exception of the Twilight Town chapters where Joseph ran into my Sora, Kairi, Riku and Axel. There really wasn't any significance of Joseph meeting them, we just thought it'd be fun to write. Granted, he did provide food for thought for both my Namine and my Riku. He *may* run into them again, but such a scene has not been written yet. Other crossover scenes where rarmaster's Riku/Namine/Joseph/etc meeting up with my Sora/Kairi/Riku/Axel/Namine/Roxas/Xion/etc will take place. However, there will not be a showdown between Sora's Shadow and my charries. Though he may want to, it won't happen. If it did, it would be a throwaway scene. Did I answer all of your questions? If not, I can try again :)

This particular chapter takes place AROUND what rarmaster is currently posting. Probably a bit after, given the fact that there is a second infiltration of tWtNW mentioned. As for how this is running alongside my universe... oh gosh. It's hard to say... probably a bit before though. Granted, my universe runs several times faster, so it's hard to say, really.

**Note from rarmaster: **I hate Sora's Shadow. Period.

* * *

><p>"Shouldn't we di—" 23 cut himself off short. Disable wasn't a word that you could really say aloud anymore.<p>

"Shouldn't we do something about 6?" he asked 19.

19 was currently trying to copy down a few pages of research. 6 had gotten a hold of them and had scribbled all over them with Joseph's blue crayon. It was hard to tell who was more upset: 19 because of his research, or Joseph because of his blue crayon.

"Do what, exactly?" 19 asked.

"Rewrite him?" 23 asked, exasperatedly. "He's becoming a liability! He can't fight, he doesn't do research, he doesn't have any particular function whatsoever, all he does is cause people grief. I mean, he leaves Riku alone—but Riku hardly hears anything anymore if it doesn't have to do with Namine."

"Riku did just fine on the last infiltration, if it wasn't for the fact that 37 happened to be on the other side of the door that we were trying to get through, we might have actually succeeded, Alpha was so sure…"

"How _did _you get out of that, anyway?" 23 asked, temporarily distracted.

"Axel. He was talking with 37. He caught a glimpse of us and sent a couple of Assassins to warn us. And by warn, I mean attack. But, hey, he tried…"

"Wouldn't someone suspect…?"

"Oh, I'm sure 37 suspects a lot of things, but he's smart enough to not say anything until he has proof. The last thing he needs is getting in trouble with Saix, or getting Saix in trouble with Xemnas. They need proof that we were there just as much as they need proof that Namine is here."

"Well, anyway, about 6…" 23 said, returning to the original subject. "Can't we…"

"If we Disable him, we're no better than Saix," 19 said curtly.

"Saix… disposes of Replicas when they annoy him. 6…"

"Is only slightly insane. We've been dealing with him for all this time, I don't see why it's only become an issue now…"

"But…"

"Look," 19 said, cutting him off. "We don't have the power to Disable anyone anyway, so it doesn't matter. And the type of rewriting that 6 would require to be… not so high-maintenance isn't possible without shutting off all the major functions first. Besides, he has personality, even if he is insane…"

"Master Vexen should have…"

"Master Vexen should have done a lot of things, but he didn't get the chance. And now, before you start blaming Riku for this mess, I'm leaving. Come find me when you have something worthwhile to talk about. I'm going to go discuss with Alpha when we're raiding next. And if he doesn't know, then I'll go ask Lexaeus."

xx

Joseph was sitting calmly on a couch, trying to find a replacement crayon for the one that 6 used up. He kept handing 6 the ones he explicitly didn't like. He didn't want to, but 29 told him to be nice to 6. 6 kept complaining about a 'dark Sora' and how he was evil and nasty and told him bad things. No one was really paying attention to him though. But 29 and 2 kept telling everyone to just be kind and patient with 6 until he got over the latest randomness.

"He said that he would do terrible things… he would hurt people… he caused a meltdown…"

Joseph, who was the only one listening, looked over at 6 with a raised eyebrow. He felt very much like Riku as he did so.

"He caused a memory meltdown?" he asked.

6 nodded.

Joseph snorted. "Better not tell Riku, or you'll send him on a wild goose chase."

"Riku can't see him like I can…"

"Like I said, wild goose chase, here, want this one? It's more green than blue."

"Ooh! Pretty!"

"I heard my name?" Riku asked, coming in. Namine followed right behind him.

"Yup," Joseph said. "6 was just ranting and raving, I wouldn't worry about it."

"Right," Riku said, sitting down on the couch opposite of them. Namine sat right beside him. Joseph wanted to smack his forehead, but he didn't want to be obvious.

"Didn't 29 tell you to be nice to 6?" Namine asked.

"I am!" Joseph said defensively. "Look, I gave him like, ten crayons!"

Namine laughed.

The sound of corridors appearing caused everyone to jump up.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Riku shouted.

Namine sighed. She opened a corridor of her own and stepped through it.

"Come on, 6," Joseph said. "You can't stay here and fight…"

"But I want to!"

"No, come on, let's go get ice-cream…"

"Ooh! I like ice-cream!"

"Yeah," Joseph said. "Let's go do that."

Joseph formed a dark corridor of his own.

29 caught the boy's eye.

"Thank you for watching out for 6," he said.

Joseph shrugged. "Someone's got to. Besides, you don't want me here."

He wanted to say something about Namine, and how they'd promised to hang out and get ice-cream at times like this, but he figured Riku would kill him if he was the reason why 37 found out that Namine was in Castle Oblivion.

So, with that, Joseph corridored to Namine's room to invite her along to get ice-cream with him and 6.

xx

19 didn't have to go very far to find Alpha. Alpha was only a couple of hallways away, seemingly arguing with an Assassin.

"Why is there an Assassin here?" 19 asked.

"I don't know, but it's not letting me past," Alpha replied with a frown.

"Should we call Axel?"

Alpha snorted. "Like he'd come if we could. He probably… oh…"

"What?"

"Axel said he was training a couple of Assassins to warn us of a raid…"

"You think that's what this guy is trying to do?" 19 asked, resisting the urge to write that tidbit of information down.

"Yeah, I think that's exactly…"

"You have GOT to be kidding me…"

They could hear Riku yell that from the floor below.

"We need a warning bell," Alpha muttered.

He turned around and caught 19's eye. Then they both disappeared through dark corridors to go fend off 37 and whatever replicas he brought with him.

xx

Joseph sighed, feeling around in his pocket. Namine turned to him, confused, though her mouth was too full of ice cream to ask what was wrong.

"I'm almost out of WINNER sticks…" Joseph said after a moment, his voice quiet. He stood there for a second, not saying anything more.

Namine quickly swallowed her ice cream, shocked by this statement. "What!" she asked.

"Well, I never actually managed to get all of them out of the Organization's headquarters," Joseph explained. "Me and 29 left too soon. I didn't have time to get all of them, cause I have a lot… and the ones I did manage to bring are almost all gone…"

"I thought you got a new one every time you got ice cream…" Namine said slowly.

"Well, that doesn't help when I'm only going once or twice a week and I'm buying for more than one person," Joseph replied, an edge in his voice. He sighed. "Sorry…" he muttered. "I didn't mean it like that."

Namine shook her head. "No problem," she assured him.

"I need to tag along next time they infiltrate the Organization's headquarters," Joseph concluded. "Then, as long as no one's moved my stash, I'll be-" He stopped walking suddenly, glancing around. "Where's 6?" he asked, voice frantic.

Namine swallowed, glancing around to find him, too. She spotted him quickly and pointed him out to Joseph. Joseph nodded and ran over to go fetch him. Namine followed at a slower pace.

Joseph stopped suddenly, turning to Namine, looking worried.

"Uh-oh…" Namine whispered, and rushed over.

6 was muttering to himself.

"No, I'm not going to do it," 6 said defiantly, though who he was talking to was a mystery. "You can't make me."

Namine turned to Joseph, eyebrows raised. He shrugged and shook his head, looking completely clueless.

"6," Namine said after a moment. "No one's telling you to do anything…"

6 however, decided to cover his ears with his hands at this moment (dropping his ice cream) and probably didn't hear her. "No!" he shouted. "I can't hear you! If I can't hear you, you can't tell me to do it! You can't make me!"

"6!" Namine called, gently trying to get him to pull his hands away from his ears. "Who's telling you to do what?"

"The dark Sora…" 6 muttered, slowly pointing. "_He's here…_" His voice sounded haunted, scared even.

Namine turned to where he was pointing. Nothing was there.

Or, wait, what was-

Namine frowned. For a split second, she had sensed _something_ there. Maybe not seen, exactly… but there was _something._ She was itching for her sketchbook now, so she could quickly draw this and maybe figure out what 6 was talking about.

But it would have to be soon…

6 suddenly flinched, as if in pain. "I'm sorry!" he said frantically. "I didn't mean to- I didn't mean- don't- it's not my fault! She asked me kindly… I wanted to respond- I-"

He stopped quickly, cowering in fear.

Namine turned back to where he had pointed, but still found nothing there. Now the sense that something was there was gone, too. She glanced over at Joseph, and was surprised to find him picking up 6's dropped ice cream and cleaning all the dirty ice cream off of it. He looked up at her, and then shrugged.

6 had had a WINNER stick.

"I never know when I'll find them…" Joseph muttered, sounding apologetic.

Namine shook her head and turned her attention back to 6. "6," she said gently. "It's alright, no one's going to hurt you, okay? You're okay, right?"

"Here!" Joseph said, handing 6 his WINNER stick. "This was yours. You should have it."

6 took it, almost instantly brightening.

"I want another ice cream!" he declared.

Joseph nodded, and pulled another WINNER stick out of his pocket, though he didn't look to happy about it. Namine raised her eyebrows questioningly, but he just shook his head.

"We'll go get another ice cream, then," Joseph told 6, grinning and then heading off back to the ice cream shop.

Namine and 6 quickly followed. By the time they had caught up with Joseph, he had already gotten the ice cream and handed it to 6. 6 took it, looking absolutely thrilled, and started eating it enthusiastically.

"Why didn't you just use the one that-" Namine began to ask Joseph, but Joseph shook his head and smiled.

"6 doesn't really understand that you can trade a WINNER stick for another ice cream," he explained. "To him, they're just exciting little keepsakes. And… I figured… after whatever that was…" he trailed off, and then shrugged.

"Well… that was nice of you," Namine told him.

"It was the least I could do," Joseph said.


	31. Flashes of Darkness

**Note from forevermagik13: **Erm, well, this would've been uploaded sooner if it wasn't for the fact that rarmaster didn't mention it was for Can't Escape as opposed to Dead Inside. So... whoops.

**Note from rarmaster: **Have I mentioned that I hate Sora's Shadow recently? cause, I do. Why? Because of THIS. That, and it was oddly fun to write... which makes it worse. sigh.

enjoy, i guess. try not to work up too much anger towards Sora's Shadow, though. it only makes him stronger, you realize

lol, jk XD

* * *

><p>"Hey, whatcha drawing?" Riku asked.<p>

Namine glanced up. "Hmm? Oh… you remember when 6 was freaking out earlier?"

Riku nodded, sitting down next to her. Namine scooted over slightly so there was room, moving a few of her pencils so he didn't sit on them.

"Well," she continued, setting one pencil aside and picking up the black. Again. She seemed to be using a lot of black for this picture. "He mentioned something about a 'dark Sora' and I _thought_ I saw something for a split second, but when I turned back it was gone. However…" She moved her hand slightly so Riku could see the picture. "I've been itching to draw this since we got back."

Riku raised his eyebrows. The picture she had drawn was of someone who looked _a lot_ like Sora. Almost identical. However, said person's hair was jet black, and he wore something similar to Sora's dark mode. His eyes were a sharp gold, and there was an absolutely _nasty_ grin on his face. Riku wasn't sure what he was grinning at, but he was sure it wasn't good.

He shuddered slightly.

"I know," Namine whispered. "I have no idea who he is… but that smile gives me the _creeps_. Because I just… have this feeling… that someone's hurting, and he's laughing at them."

She swallowed.

"I thought it was just 6's insanity…" Riku muttered. "I didn't actually think that he was _real_…"

Namine shrugged. "I thought so too, but… this picture…"

"Well… we can try and talk to 6 about it…" Riku suggested. "If it's really bothering you. Or, if we see Sora again- but I'm not sure when that might be."

"Nah, I think I'm good," Namine muttered.

"Hey, why don't we go do something else?" Riku asked, rising to his feet. "Maybe we could convince Joseph to get us some ice cream."

"That won't work," Namine laughed, getting up herself and putting her sketchbook away. "He's almost out of WINNER sticks."

Riku turned to her in shock. "Joseph? Out of WINNER sticks?" he asked. "Never!"

Namine shrugged. "Ask him!" she replied, as they headed out of the room.

xx

Sora's Shadow let out a long groan. "Finally!" he shouted. "I thought they'd never leave! I've been sitting here for a good five minutes!" He walked over to the table and picked up Namine's sketchbook, flipping to the back of it and finding the picture that Namine had drawn of him. "Hey… this isn't too bad…" he mused. "Actually, it's pretty damn good!"

He slowly scowled.

"It's too damn good," he whispered, quickly tearing it out of the book and putting the book back where he had found it. "She shouldn't be able to draw me that well!"

In an angry flash of darkness, he was gone.

xx

"Can you explain _this_?" he asked angrily, showing the picture to 6. 6 glanced up from what he was doing, which wasn't anything interesting. Just something Sora's Shadow assumed that any Vexen Replica typically did to occupy their time. He wasn't sure though. He didn't care.

"Why that is a lovely picture of you, sir," 6 said, eyeing the picture. "Miss Namine did a good job."

"I know!" Sora's Shadow exclaimed, glancing over the picture again. "She got my smile down quite- wait! No! That's not why I'm here! I'm here because _you_ decided to blab about me!"

"I-I'm sorry…" 6 muttered, sitting down on the floor. "I told you already, Miss Namine asked nicely. So I told her."

"And just why did you do that?" the Shadow asked, bending over so he could look 6 in the eye.

6 flinched away. "I already said. She asked me nicely," he explained simply. The Shadow's eyes narrowed, knowing that there _had_ to be more to it than that. 6 swallowed. "Listen, I- I don't know, I-" he stuttered.

"No matter!" the Shadow laughed, cutting him off and straightening. "I'll just be more careful next time. _You_ just need to keep your mouth shut about me, you hear?"

6 slowly nodded.

"Good, because I really do like the fact that no one knows I exist," the Shadow said. "I mean, sure, it's a bit lonely sometimes… but…" He shrugged. "Not like _I_ care. Makes my life easier."

"I'll be good," 6 whispered.

The Shadow grinned. He began to tear the picture in half.

"NO! Wait!" 6 shouted. "Don't tear it!"

"And just why the hell not?" the Shadow asked, pausing before he tore it completely.

"Miss Namine will be so upset! And Master Riku will be-"

"Furious?" the Shadow finished, and then laughed. "What's he going to do to hurt me? He can't see me, can't hear me, doesn't even know I've been here. And I plan to keep it that way."

That said, he tore the picture to shreds, despite 6's consistent protests.

"Now if you excuse me," the Shadow laughed, watching the shreds fall to the ground. "I have somewhere better to be. Adios!"

And in a flash of darkness, he was gone again.

xx

It was about that time when Namine and Riku walked into the almost completely empty room.

"6?" Namine called tentatively. "I just wanted to ask you some questions. Do you think I could-"

She stopped suddenly, watching as 6 frantically tried to put the shreds of the picture back together. He was muttering to himself.

"Nononono… not good… this is not good… I have to fix it. I have to fix it. I-"

"6?" Namine called again, causing him to look up. She swallowed as 6 turned to her.

He was crying.

"I- I didn't do it!" he said frantically. "I swear, I tried to stop- I-" He paused suddenly, looking haunted now. "I didn't do it!" he repeated, resuming his frantic attempts to put the picture back together.

Namine quickly rushed over, kneeling down next to him. "Hey, 6," she told him gently, as she gathered up the shreds of paper. "It's alright. I didn't really like this picture anyways. I don't mind."

"But I didn't do it!" 6 said again.

Namine nodded. "Of course," she said. "But don't worry about it, alright?"

"O-Okay," 6 mumbled.

"So, 6," Riku said, walking over. "About those questions-"

He quickly stopped as Namine threw a glare over her shoulder at him.

"Not now!" she hissed. "The questions can wait." She turned back to 6. "Hey, why don't we go do something? Get your mind off of this, or something."

6 turned back to her, and then shook his head. "No," he said, rising to his feet. "I'm- I'm okay." He turned away then, and walked out of the room.

Riku raised his eyebrows. "Is it just me?" he asked, as Namine rose to her feet. "Or does he seem a bit more… I don't know… _sane_ than usual?"

xx

"Hmm… maybe I _shouldn't_ have gotten rid of the picture," he muttered. "It was good. I could have just held on to it." He summoned his chains, working them into the typical twirl. "Too late now though, I suppose."

He sidestepped a passing Vexen Replica, raising his eyebrows as he watched him go.

"Well then…" he whispered. "I didn't even bump into you and I'm hearing those thoughts… what's so important about this, then?"

The Vexen Replica stopped suddenly, and turned around. "Is someone there?" he called.

The Shadow sighed. "Oh great, not another one," he muttered. "How the hell is it that so many people can hear me?"

"Who are you?" the Vexen Replica demanded.

"You really can hear me then?" the Shadow asked. "This isn't just one of those random moments when I have enough power to project my voice?"

"I can hear you…" the Vexen Replica replied slowly, eyes narrowing.

"Right!" the Shadow laughed. "What number are you?" he asked, using a phrasing he had heard quite a few times. Not once had he heard a Vexen Replica _not_ answer to it.

"23," the Vexen Replica responded. "And you are?"

"Well, as long as you promise not to tell about me…"

23 nodded.

"Sora's Shadow."

23's eyes widened. "I thought you were just a figment of 6's imagination!" he exclaimed.

The Shadow groaned. "Oh puh-lease! If I was a figment of _anyone's_ imagination, it would be Sora's. And, obviously, I'm talking to you right now, so I have to be real, don't I?"

"I suppose…" 23 muttered.

Silence passed between the two of them for a moment. 23 was unsure of what to say. The Shadow was perfectly okay with that, and was currently probing 23's mind. A wicked grin slowly spread across his face.

"You're worried about something," he said after a moment, voice quiet.

"Worried about what?" 23 asked slowly.

"Ah! Sorry, not worried," the Shadow said, and then corrected himself: "Fed up."

"With what?"

"Everything," the Shadow replied simply. "Fed up with this blasted Rebellion. You never liked Riku, why should you be helping him? He destroyed your Master, after all."

"19 thought this was a good idea," 23 muttered.

The Shadow raised his eyebrows. "But you never agreed with 19 did you?" he asked. "Or, not really, anyways. You always thought he was stupid for trying to help you. So why should his opinion matter?"

"He's my brother," 23 sighed.

"But Riku's not," the Shadow pointed out. "And, if you don't like working for him _that_ much, it shouldn't matter whether or not 19 cares."

"What are you getting at?" 23 asked.

The Shadow shrugged casually. "Nothing really, just suggesting that _maybe_ you might want something more than this," he said. "Maybe something like… I don't know… _revenge_."

23 raised his eyebrows, as if considering the idea.

"I don't have time for this," he said after a moment, turning on his heel and walking away.

"Really now!" the Shadow called after him. "We were having a nice conversation here! Whatever, you're loss…" He shook his head and let out a long sigh. "Guess I need to go… do other things…"

In a flash of darkness, he was gone.


	32. ReProgram

**Author' note from rarmaster: **so... this chapter, you can totally thank Axel for. It wasn't necessarily his idea, but he was the one who decided this should be happening now... That, and 37 and this Larxene Replica... I swear. they are totally trying to ship themselves, and it's really weird.

**Note from forevermagik13: **I don't particularly have much to say. I'm too drugged because of this stupid sinus infection...

* * *

><p>"Has anyone seen Tulip?" Amaryllis asked, glancing around.<p>

Everyone was currently cleaning up from the previous raid. The Berserkers had done a lot of damage. A few of the couches were overturned, one table had been completely broken in two, and the chairs weren't fairing to well, either.

"No!" Lotus, a Marluxia Replica who made a particularly good medic, called. "Which is weird, considering he gets hurt almost every raid…" he trailed off, and then returned to helping a Vexen Replica with his wounds.

"Maybe he got himself killed," another Vexen Replica said. This was Number 7, who was also a very good medic, and an expert at running the Repair Program. "I mean, it's not like we could really pay attention to everyone this time around. The Berserkers really caught us by surprise."

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," Amaryllis said. "Maybe he slept through this raid. Or just sat this one out because he thought we didn't need him. Someone check his room!"

Another one of the Vexen Replicas nodded and ran off.

Amaryllis continued going around, checking to make sure everyone else was okay. They weren't missing anyone else, it seemed. No one had gotten seriously injured, there wasn't too much damage to Castle Oblivion itself.

But they were still missing Tulip.

"He's not in his room!" the Vexen Replica reported, running back.

Amaryllis frowned. "Then just where is he…?" he muttered.

xx

_Roughly ten or so minutes ago_

Tulip crumpled to his knees, clutching his newly acquired and profusely bleeding shoulder wound. "Shoot," he whispered, trying to get to his feet again. "I need to get out of here. I can't fight like- oof!"

He was shoved to the ground and held there.

"Look what I found!" came the sneering voice of a Larxene Replica. She bent down so she could look him in the eye, and smirked. "An injured Replica! Just what we needed."

Tulip opened his mouth to cry for help, but before he could say anything a dark corridor enveloped the both of them. He stifled his shout, knowing it would do him no good now. Now, they were in the middle of the World that Never Was.

The Larxene Replica straightened. "Oh boys!" she called, sounding all too happy. "I found someone!"

A Vexen Replica and a Lexaeus Replica made their way over. Tulip did his best to sit up, and was disgusted to find a grin on the Larxene Replica's face. She was obviously enjoying this.

_Great…_ he thought. _Not only am I terrible at fighting and have nasty luck to get hurt every time, but now I've been kidnapped by a sadistic Replica!_

_This just isn't my day…_

"Take him away!" the Larxene Replica commanded. "I would just _love_ to stay, but I've got more important things to be doing! Ta-ta!"

_Well, at least she's gone…_ Tulip told himself, as the two other Replicas grabbed him by the shoulders and hoisted him to his feet. He let out a small cry of pain. His shoulder hurt.

"Let go of me!" he said, trying to struggle against them. It only caused him more pain. The Lexaeus Replica was holding his injured shoulder.

"Stop your useless struggling!" the Lexaeus Replica said. "It will only make things worse."

They started dragging him off, and Tulip did his best not to whimper, due to the pain. There was silence for a moment, before he asked:

"Where are you taking me?"

"You'll find out soon enough," the Vexen Replica informed him, his voice smug.

And sure enough, he did. They dragged him into an almost completely empty room. All it contained was a chair. The Vexen Replica kicked the door open, and the Lexaeus Replica half shoved, half threw, Tulip into the chair.

"Stay put," the Vexen Replica commanded simply. "We'll deal with you later!"

And with that, they both left, the door slamming behind them.

Tulip quickly formed a dark corridor. However, he only got halfway through before he couldn't go any farther. He swore.

_What in the Worlds are they going to do with me?_ he wondered, though the thought scared him slightly. He decided not to dwell on it long.

Instead, he just waited patiently.

There was nothing else for him to do.

Well, he _could_ clutch his bleeding wound and hope that it would stop bleeding soon.

But that was about it.

However, he didn't have to wait long, because soon enough 37 threw the door open and walked in. He had a nasty smirk on his face. "Well then, I suppose this will do," he sighed, sounding not entirely pleased. The smirk never left his face, though, which bothered Tulip.

"We could have hoped for a better fighter… but-"

"When we're through with you, it won't matter," someone else finished. Tulip glanced around 37, slightly surprised to see that Larxene Replica again.

She let out a long exaggerated sigh. "Sorry it took so long," she told 37. "That pesky Alpha sent me to some _dreadful_ world…"

"I shouldn't have ditched you as soon as I did," 37 replied. "Riku could have killed you-"

"He was too worried about Namine," the Larxene Replica said. "And, miraculously, I came out alive!" She laughed. "I'm glad I did, I wouldn't want to miss this!"

They turned their attention back to Tulip, who was currently gaping at them in shock. There was something about the way they had just acted… something that reminded him vaguely of-

"What are you gaping at!" the Larxene Replica snapped, breaking his thought process.

"I- uh-" Tulip began.

The Larxene Replica chucked a knife at him. It missed him, but only narrowly.

"Careful now," 37 warned. "We can't kill him."

"I wasn't going to kill him," the Larxene Replica replied. "Only harm him."

Tulip shuddered slightly, not liking the look on her face.

"What… what do you want from me?" he asked, his voice shaking slightly.

The Larxene Replica broke out into a grin. "Oh," she told him. "I don't think that's entirely important." She turned to 37. He nodded, pulling something out of his pocket.

It was a laptop of sorts, though it appeared to be smaller than a usual laptop. 37 flipped the lid open, made a few keystrokes-

And Tulip collapsed.

"We should have kept him around a bit longer," the Larxene Replica mused. "He would have been fun to torture…"

37 closed the laptop and put it away. "I don't see why they brought him here, instead of to the Editing Room," he said. "It would have made things a lot easier. Especially considering Saix refuses to give me the ability to Disable Replicas with the snap of my fingers…"

"He is a bit… uptight about some things," the Larxene replied with a sigh. That was quickly replaced, however, by a much more excited mood. "Let's get this stupid Marluxia to the Editing Room!" she laughed. "I can't _wait_ to start reprogramming him!"


	33. Oh Crap, He's Our Best Fighter, Isn't He

**Note from forevermagik13: **So, I'm not sure who EXACTLY had the idea for this one, rarmaster wanted to do SOMETHING at CO while Riku and Namine were at Hollow Bastion. Plus, we have the lovely tangent plots of Tulip, Larxene L and 37, 19 and 23... Yeah, pretty much. Oh, and Joseph, never forget Joseph. Anyway, so I wrote the conversation between Vexen and Alpha at the beginning. Rarmaster finished the chapter and has another chapter lined up for you guys. I'm the one to blame this time, I should have had this up... erm... two nights ago. Yeah. *facepalm* I need to stop getting distracted by things... Oh! Look! Shiny!

I must also facepalm myself in the fact that I didn't ask rarmaster for an author's note. Meh. And now she's at school... so... snargleforgle. I'm sure if she has anything important to say, I can add it into the next chapter when I remember to post that.

College, man, it kills your time.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"Shouldn't someone go to Hollow Bastion to observe if she has a meltdown or not? Weren't we all wondering if it was Castle Oblivion triggering them?"<p>

Alpha looked at Vexen over his very large book.

"Since when do you care so much?" he asked. "Unless this is just some weird relation to the fact that you feel protective over Riku because you were the one to create him."

"You care too when she's having one and he's at everyone's throats," Vexen replied, sounding slightly hurt.

Alpha sighed and looked over his glasses at Vexen. "You have a valid point. However, we really can't spare anyone. Riku's arguably our best fighter. And all of our good researchers also happen to be good fighters.

"What about sending Joseph?" Vexen mused. "I could probably teach him how to take good notes."

"Don't let him hear you say that," 29 cautioned, walking past.

"He'd just get into more trouble there," Alpha said. "And I doubt he'd take good notes, even if you did take the time to teach him."

Vexen shrugged. "I was just considering all the people that we don't necessarily want here during a raid."

Alpha decided that he didn't want to be a part of this conversation anymore, so he returned to his book.

"They're not going to be there long," Vexen continued. "We should jump on this opportunity."

Alpha sighed.

"Perhaps I should just go…"

"Your decision, I suppose," Alpha said, now just trying to get Vexen to be quiet. "But if we have a raid and you're not here, I'll kill you myself."

"I'm going to take that as a compliment to my fighting ability."

Alpha was going to pointedly ignore that comment, but he was distracted by a dark corridor. He slowly lowered his book and took off his glasses. It wasn't a raid—raids started with several dark corridors at once, or someone charging through the front doors.

"Tulip, is that you?" Thistle asked.

The Marluxia Replica who walked out of the dark corridor was indeed, Tulip. However, something had changed about him…

…because he had just pulled out his scythe on Thistle and wasn't making any apologies about messed-up data.

And then the rest of the raid arrived.

"Guess I'll stay here then," Vexen muttered.

Alpha swore under his breath. They were about to find out just how much Riku was helping them. And based on his calculations, Riku did quite a lot.

xx

"Tulip, what have they turned you into?" 23 muttered, watching the fight take place from the sidelines. He shook his head, slightly disgusted, but only slightly.

"I didn't realize they would rewrite you entirely," he continued, voice even quieter than it had been before.

He winced slightly, as someone in the fight he was watching took a rather nasty blow. And that someone hadn't been Tulip. 23 gasped slightly as the Vexen Replica stumbled back to his feet. It was 19.

"Tulip!" 19 said, his voice desperate. "Would you just _listen_ to me! This isn't you! This isn't-"

23 looked away.

"I am sorry," he whispered.

And then he walked off, paying no attention to the fight, and not drawing his weapon to aid in any way, either.

xx

"You are right," Tulip, who was not really Tulip, said plainly, hefting his scythe to strike again. "I am not Tulip, not anymore. I am much stronger."

"And you're working for Saix!" 19 shouted, dodging out of the way of the scythe. "You said you hated him! He never liked you, because you were-"

"Defective," the New Tulip finished, and then laughed. "But I am defective no longer!" And again, he slashed with his scythe, missing 19 only narrowly.

"I won't fight you!" 19 gasped, his voice desperate.

"Chose so at your own wish," the New Tulip laughed. "But be warned, you are bringing your own demise upon you!"

He struck yet again, and actually hit 19 this time. The scythe scraped him across the cheek and he stumbled back, clutching the newly formed and bleeding wound. The New Tulip grinned a wicked grin, and prepared to deal the final blow while 19 was off guard.

"Tulip, I am very disappointed in you," came a small voice.

He glanced down, surprised to find Joseph guarding 19. The look on Joseph's face was an odd one. It was mix of disgust, and anger, and yet… pity.

"I can't believe I wasted perfectly good WINNER sticks on you," Joseph muttered. Then he turned away. He grabbed 19 by the hand and formed a dark corridor around them both.

The New Tulip made a face, but then quickly located his next victim.

xx

_Things are going better than usual,_ Larxene L laughed to herself, watching as Tulip took incapacitated yet another Replica. Yet again, though, said Replica formed a dark corridor around themselves before Tulip could deliver the final blow.

Larxene L groaned. "What's the point of a Killer if he doesn't kill anyone!" she muttered, and then turned and kicked an advancing Vexen Replica in the gut. He was sent flying and skidded across the floor. She walked over to him, and placed a foot on his chest before he could get back up.

"Maybe I should take you in for a Rewrite, too," she sneered.

"Vexen Replicas… don't make good fighters!" he stuttered. "How would you make any use of me?"

"Good point," she sighed, and then whistled. Immediately, Tulip turned around.

"Over here!" she called in a sing-song voice.

And very quickly, she moved out of the way. Tulip brought his scythe swinging down-

Larxene L looked away. She didn't need to _watch_ the Vexen Replica die. His cries of anguish were enough.

_That's the first we've managed to kill, isn't it?_ she thought, and then grinned. _Things really ARE going well this time!_

_But… isn't there something missing?_

She glanced around. Sure enough, she was having trouble locating a certain someone. A certain someone who would have killed her by this point, except— he wasn't anywhere in sight. She frowned.

Before she could get anywhere on figuring out just _where_ Riku was, a Marluxia Replica attacked her. She dodged out of the way.

_These guys are SOO annoying,_ she groaned, as she punched him. _How much longer is 37 going to take? He should have been done by now!_


	34. I HAD to have Imagined That

**Note from forevermagik13: **Hey! So, guess what! You didn't think we'd leave you hanging there, now did you?

**Note from rarmaster: **need an authors note for LAST chapter? Nah! Last chapter had nothing exciting happen! It was only leading up to this!  
>and THIS? do I have anything to say on it... *thinks for a second* not really, actually. I think I HAD something, but I forgot it now...<p>

* * *

><p>Alpha arrived in the computer room to quite the shock. 37 was already there, fiddling with the computer. His eyes narrowed into a glare, watching as 37 typed away at the computer. He could have <em>sworn<em> he had password locked it.

Then again, he had heard that 37 had always been good with computers, so he wouldn't be surprised if he was an experienced hacker.

"You really need to be quicker about this," 37 laughed, catching Alpha out of the corner of his eye. He did not turn to him though, and just continued typing. "Though, I suppose it won't matter after this, because as soon as I'm done here, the Rebellion won't be much of an issue."

It was then that Alpha glimpsed the program that 37 had up on the computer.

It was the Replica Archive.

_He's planning to disable all of us!_ Alpha realized, watching as 37 moved on to another window and started typing the same code that he had entered everywhere else. Alpha swallowed, grateful that the "Mass Disable Program" had been disposed of long ago. The "Mass Editing Program" hadn't been, though. So as soon as 37 hit the right key, all the Replicas that he had marked for Disabling would fall.

"You can't do that," Alpha said, though he felt like an idiot for not coming up with something more… original to say.

"Of course I can," 37 replied, rolling his eyes. "What do you think I'm doing right now?"

"I mean, I won't let you," Alpha said. And then he closed his eyes, trying to recall the simplest Illusion that he could do without actually summoning his Lexicon.

The room shifted, changing to a completely white space. 37 stopped typing, as there was no longer a computer for which he could type commands into. Well, there might have still been, but he couldn't see it. And he wouldn't dare type blindly, for fear of a mistake.

But… he had already marked Alpha for Disabling. If he could only hit the enter key…

He slowly placed his fingers on where the keyboard _had_ been, and was relieved that he could still feel it.

_The first step to an illusion is making a person see what isn't there,_ Alpha recited to himself. _The second step is to make them believe in what they see, no matter how fake it may be…_

And suddenly, 37 found no keyboard beneath his fingers. He frowned and turned to Alpha, who stood there with a slight smile on his face.

_That little…_ 37 thought. He shook his head and focused on reminding himself of the fact that this was only an illusion, and that the keyboard was still_there_-

"Alpha!" someone cried.

The illusion broke as Alpha turned around, wondering who in the Worlds could be interrupting him, and feeling slightly upset that he had been distracted. Thistle stood there, looking panicked. Alpha groaned.

"Thistle, whatever it is, I don't have time for it," Alpha said, trying to remain patient. He could hear 37 typing again, and was glad that 37 hadn't already initiated the changes he had made. "Do you not see 37 trying to get into the-"

"I came to warn you about 19!" Thistle gasped.

Alpha stopped short and frowned.

"Tulip's killed 22, and 19 isn't happy at all," Thistle explained, trying to calm himself down as he said it. He had, however, caught sight of what 37 was doing, and it wasn't helping his nerves at all.

"Is he planning on heading this way?" Alpha asked.

Thistle nodded.

Alpha made a face. He wasn't too about how he felt towards an angry 19 trying to avenge his little brother coming this way. And there wasn't much time to worry about it, either. 37 would have to be done any minute-

"What did you do to Tulip!" came 19's angry shout, as he barged though the hallway over to them. He shoved Alpha aside, so he could glare at 37.

"What does it matter-" 37 began, but was stopped as 19 was suddenly at his throat.

"I helped _build_ Tulip," 19 hissed. "And I know he was never a good fighter, he never really needed to be, but that doesn't give you the right to _rewrite_ him!"

"Since when do _you_ have the right to tell me what I can and can't do?" 37 sneered. "Vexen is no longer in charge of the Program. And I have permission straight from Saix-"

"You turned him into a killer!" 19 shouted. "A _killer!_ It would have been bad enough if you had only edited him so he believed he worked for Saix, bad enough if you had fixed his slight lapses in fighting, just so you had another fighter on your side, but you _had_ to turn him into a killer! Someone who spends the entire battle searching for enemies caught off guard, only so he can take them down-"

"It- it wasn't my idea!" 37 stammered, fear in his eyes now. "Larxene L suggested that we-"

"And why did you listen to her!" 19 screamed. "We all know that ideas of _anyone_ who thinks like Larxene are typically faulty! It doesn't matter if this one actually _worked_-"

The fear in 37's eyes was replaced by anger. "The past three ides she has suggested turned out perfectly fine!" he protested.

_And I bet it was her idea that he try and Disable the entire Rebellion,_Alpha thought. Then he gasped slightly in shock, noticing something. All though 19 had 37 pinned to the wall, 37 could still reach the computer. And currently, he was about to hit enter-

Thinking quickly, Alpha did something he wouldn't have dared to do had this been any other circumstance. He unplugged the computer.

37 swore.

Alpha smiled slightly.

"What's taking you so long!" a demanding and slightly whiney voice called. "I gave you all the time you could _possibly_ need to Disable the Rebellion, and yet they're _still -_"

Larxene L stopped short, glancing at the scene around her. Her eyes fell first on the scared-for-his-life Thistle, who she rolled her eyes at, then on the completely blank computer screen, which she glared at, and then her eyes finally rested on 37.

She sighed.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she muttered.

"YOU!" 19 shouted, turning on her. "It was you-" he took a step towards her, ready to attack. "You're the one who-"

He never got the rest of that sentence out. 37 had taken this opportunity to summon his shield and bash 19 over the head. 19 crumpled to the ground, effectively knocked unconscious.

Alpha frowned at 37. "That was uncalled for," he said, or rather, _tried_to say. About halfway through the sentence, a jolt of lightning went through him, and what was left of his sentence came out slurred.

_No wonder Riku hates lightning so much…_ Alpha found himself wondering, as he, too, crumpled to the ground. He could feel his consciousness starting to fade, and swore to himself. But before his conscious faded completely, he caught the oddest bit of conversation:

"Darling, I could have handled that myself," 37 said, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Of course, sweetie," Larxene L laughed, sounding like she didn't believe him at all.

_I had to have heard them wrong,_ Alpha thought. _The lightning's messing with my brain, or-_

And at that, he lost consciousness completely.


	35. An AbilityProof Room

**Note from rarmaster:** i wish Alpha had heard them wrong, too... because they are absolutely DISGUSTING (and yet oddly interesting) to write! Like, seriously, I thought Sora's Shadow was bad! heheh... nope, not anymore! I'd rather be writing for him than them! *shudder*

**Note from forevermagik13: **I am excited for all of these chapters to post. And I'm ignoring the grossness.

* * *

><p>"Why can't you just turn the computer back on?"<p>

Joseph stopped, filling with dread. Very, _very_ quietly, he peeked into the Computer Room. Sure enough, there stood 37, accompanied by Larxene L. He winced, noting that _both_ 19 and Alpha were unconscious. However, the _most_ surprising part of this scene was how much 37 and Larxene L were bickering.

"It's more complicated than it looks!" 37 replied, casting an annoyed glance over his shoulder at Larxene L. Joseph made a face. That annoyance wasn't anywhere _near_ what he had seen 37 have before. "Alpha unplugged the darn thing!"

"Just plug it back in!" Larxene L said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

37 cast her a 'no-duh' look.

"I wish it were that simple," he muttered. "But it was unplugged during a critical part of the data initiation, I will be very surprised if-" he paused, and made a face, realizing that Larxene L probably wasn't following him at all. "You know when a computer tells you not to turn it off because it's in the middle of something?" he said instead.

Larxene L glared at him. "I'm not five!"

Joseph snorted. Luckily, neither of them noticed.

_I really should do something about them,_ he thought. _They probably are responsible for… no, they ARE responsible for Alpha and 19 being unconscious._

_But…_

He grinned.

_Their bickering is amusing…_

"So you're saying that getting the files might be impossible now?" Larxene L asked, and then laughed. "Saix isn't going to be happy about this!"

"Saix isn't going to find out about this," 37 replied, as he quickly entered a few commands on the computer. It beeped at him. He swore.

"Ooh! Naughty mouth!" Larxene L giggled, placing a hand on 37's shoulder.

Joseph nearly puked.

_Just what is it with them! They're acting like-_

_Riku and Namine…_

_Oh my gosh!_

He actually _did_ puke slightly.

_This is disgusting! I'm not going to stand here and listen to them anymore!_

And, that decided, he pulled his star shard out of his pocket and did what he had considered doing to Riku many times, but never actually had the guts. He reached forward, still unnoticed, and grabbed the edge of Larxene L's cloak. He waited a split second, until 37 had his hands off of the computer, and then activated the star shard-

They appeared in a completely empty room of the Castle. Joseph quickly distanced himself from Larxene L, merely out of reflex, but partially just to trick her into-

"You little-" she shouted, charging up a lightning bolt.

Or _trying_ to charge up a lightning bolt.

It flickered in and out of existence with in the span of a half second. She frowned, and then tried again, but with the same results. She swore.

37 raised his eyebrows.

Joseph grinned.

"All abilities of _every_ Replica are offline while remaining in this room," he informed them, trying his hardest not to laugh as he did so. "We typically put 6 in here so he can't hurt himself."

"I don't need lightning to hurt you!" Larxene L shouted, and lunged forward. 37 thought about restraining her, but then thought better of it.

Joseph quickly dodged out of the way, and her fist nearly missed his head. He quickly pulled out his wooden sword, and this time when she attacked he hit her hard in the side. It probably didn't hurt much, but was enough to make her miss.

They went on like this for a bit. She only managed to punch him once, but it was right in the nose, and hard enough to make him bleed. He didn't stop though, and continued to whack her with his wooden sword, harder and harder each time. He doubted it was actually hurting her, but was surprised when she doubled over in pain at one point.

Grinning, Joseph rushed forward, blade ready to strike. He knew it wouldn't do him much good, but it would definitely be fun.

However, before he could actually hit her, 37 had picked him up by the collar of his shirt and held him back. He kicked at the air for a bit, as if it would make 37 drop him. Larxene L finally straightened and stalked forward, glaring.

Joseph glared right back.

"You can' kiw beh," he declared, though the sentence came out rather mangled due to his nose. He grinned a crooked grin-

-only to have her snatch his sword away from him.

"Hey!" he shouted, struggling against 37 again. "Giffat back!"

She raised her eyebrows, completely un-amused. "Oh, you really think I will?" she sneered. And then, right in front of him, she snapped it in half.

"Hey!" Joseph shouted.

Now she grinned, cruelly, and tossed the broken pieces aside.

"Let's see how well you can fight _now,_" she laughed.

Joseph made a face and then kicked 37 as hard as he could. Thankfully, this caused 37 to drop him, albeit flat on his face. He rolled to the side before Larxene L got any ideas of pinning him there, and quickly fished his star shard back out of his pocket and activated it.

He landed on his hands and knees in the middle of the Main Room, which wasn't in a very good state at all. Tulip was nowhere to be seen, but that was about the only good news.

"Joseph! What happened to you!"

Joseph turned, and sure enough, there was 29, rushing over to make sure that he was okay. He rolled his eyes slightly.

"Larkfene anb firdyseben," he explained, grimacing at how bad he sounded. "Gowt dem out udda compudder oob…"

"Are you okay?" 29 demanded.

"Yah! Imb find!" Joseph exclaimed, pushing himself to his feet and pocketing his star shard. He dusted himself off. "Losht by sword, doh…" He sighed and made a face. He had grown fond of that sword, and had no idea where he could possibly replace it.

"Where did you take them?" 29 asked.

"Dat abiwity pwoof oob," Joseph said with a wave of his hand starting off.

"And what do you think we're going to do with them?" 29 called.

"I dond know," Joseph replied. "Bud sumbfink before Riku gebfs back."


	36. Ew Grossness Ignoring

**Note from forevermagik13: **Uploading spam! However, this one was written mostly by rarmaster, who wrote the scene with L and 37. I wrote the scene in the computer room at the end. I need to get this posted so it runs close-to-parallel with what is going on in Hollow Bastion in Dead Inside at this time.

**Note from rarmaster: **Ewwie! you two! that's DISGUSTING! I don't even let Namine and Riku get away with thinking things like that! I don't CARE if it was amusing, it was still really gross! Ug! sigh... this is what i get for putting them alone in a room together...

**Note from forevermagik13: **And, ignoring that. As for the scene at the end, I apparently enjoy putting random people in a room and letting them talk. Heheh...

* * *

><p>"This is so <em>stupid<em>!" Larxene L cried, not for the first time. She held half of Joseph's sword, and was currently examining it. They sat on the floor, having nothing better to do, really. The room lacked furniture.

"Careful," 37 warned. "You might get a splinter."

"Oh, I might get a splinter, huh?" she asked, bitterly. "Yes, because that's _really_ the most important thing right now!" She turned and whacked him over the head. "Did you _miss_ the part concerning the fact that we're _locked_ in a room without _any of _our abilities? I can't even form a lightning bolt to chuck at the wall!"

"Ah, yes, that is a wonderful use of your abilities," 37 replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't have cared if we were in a corridor proof room!" she argued, rather exasperated. "Then at least I could have _killed_ that blasted mistake! If not sat here and-"

"Tortured him for your own enjoyment?" 37 finished. "You realize how completely childish that is, right?"

She made a face, and then chucked the half of sword at him and rose to her feet.

"You're ridiculous, you know that!" she snapped, and then turned away and walked across the room, making a point not to look at him as she did so. "Sometimes I wonder why I-" she stopped suddenly.

"Go on," 37 said, rising to his feet. "Why you what?"

"Nothing," she muttered.

Gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "You can go ahead and tell me," he whispered.

She cast a glance at him, then shoved his hand away.

"Nope, we're not going _there_ again," she exclaimed. "Especially not after-"

For once, anger towards her flared up inside 37. He quickly covered her mouth with his hand, much to her displeasure. "You mustn't speak of him!" he hissed.

Angrily she pulled his and away and put a large distance between the two of them. "Are you insane!" she demanded.

"You know what Saix will do if speak of him!" 37 replied simply. "He will not hesitate to kill us, even if we are his two most faithful Replicas!"

"Well it's his fault for-" Larxene L began, and then stopped, catching the look 37 was giving her. She frowned, and then sighed. "Fine," she muttered, pouting slightly.

He laughed.

And, though she tried hard not to, she smiled, too.

There was silence for a moment, and then, very quietly, she asked:

"Saix laughs at us, doesn't he?"

"Saix doesn't have the heart to laugh with," 37 assured her.

"I know, but- with his stupid theory that Replicas don't have emotions, he's convinced himself into thinking he has _something_ of a heart," Larxene L whispered. "Enough, at least, that he can scoff at us."

Uncertainly, 37 reached out and grabbed her hand.

"He can laugh all he likes. It doesn't change anything."

She stared to say something in response, but was interrupted by a dark corridor opening not far from them. They both stared at it in shock.

"I thought this room was corridor proof…" 37 said slowly, frowning.

"That little twerp only said it blocked abilities of Replicas in this room," Larxene L pointed out. "So, theoretically, you can get _in_…"

"Are you two coming or what!" someone called, and then Xigbar's Clone stuck his head through the corridor. "You're pretty lucky I'm getting you out of here. Normally, I don't do this kind of thing, but Saix is in a bad enough mood already-"

"We're coming!" Larxene L replied, tensely, pulling her hand away from 37. Very quickly, she headed through the dark corridor.

"I saw that, by the way," Xigbar's Clone laughed.

Larxene L, through the dark corridor by now, summoned her knives and had them at his throat in seconds. "You saw _nothing!_" she hissed.

He held his hands up in defeat. "Okay! Okay! I saw nothing!"

Satisfied, Larxene L walked off.

"She's _crazy_!" Xigbar's Clone told 37, as he closed the dark corridor behind him. "I don't see how you can put up with her!"

37 didn't bother to respond.

xx

The Computer Room was fuller than it usually was. Alpha and 19 were both unconscious still, and had been put up against the wall to wake up in semi-peace. 2 stood monitoring all the cameras and getting all the typical functions of the Computer back online. He had to in order to get the Repair Program back up. The usual Medics were now seeing to those who were injured. 7 had been given the unfortunate job of dealing with 22's body. 22 was the only one that had actually died that day. Joseph had apparently seen fit to keep Tulip from killing anyone else and Tulip apparently couldn't kill Joseph.

Which was going to end up becoming a crucial thing unless something was done about Tulip.

2 checked the cameras again. He was trying to locate everyone. Vexen had said that he'd do it, but 2 was much more content to let Vexen update the Catalog of Replicas, considering there had been some changes in sides and a few changes in status. He'd found everyone except 23, who hadn't been seen since before the battle.

"Did you check his room?" Vexen asked.

2 sighed and pulled up 23's room. Sure enough, there was 23, looking like he was asleep.

"I don't remember the last time he slept," murmured the Lexaeus Replica. "He could have just passed out from exhaustion and didn't even know about the raid."

"You know, I honestly thought Riku was the only one to do that," Amaryllis said.

Lexaeus shrugged.

2 ignored them and went back to monitoring their prisoners. Larxene L and 37 were still in the ability-proof room thanks to Joseph.

"What are we going to do with them?" he murmured, rubbing his temples.

Part of him just wanted to let them stay there until Riku showed back up. Riku could dispose of both of them easily, considering he was the only one who actually had abilities in that room since he wasn't in this System. Or he could ask Axel… but Axel probably wouldn't be willing to destroy Saix's two most loyal Replicas.

Come to think of it, Axel hadn't been around in a while. Probably too busy keeping face.

The computer started bleeping.

"Would someone like to tell me what the he—" Alpha began, waking up.

2 motioned for him to be quiet. Alpha swallowed his sentence and got up to see what was going on.

A dark corridor had just appeared in the ability-proof room. Someone knew that room was there and knew that you could get in, but not out via dark corridor.

"I can't see who it is!" 2 said.

"Move over," Alpha said, frantically typing in commands to the computer.

But by the time, Larxene L and 37 had disappeared into the dark corridor.

"Looks like they'll be back to annoy us another day," Amaryllis said sadly.

"Did anyone else notice that they were holding hands?" Lexaeus asked.

Alpha shuddered. "I wondered… but I thought I'd just been clonked on the head too hard."

"Ignoring that grossness, can we get audio from that room to figure out who it was?" 2 asked.

"Yes," Alpha said. "However the answer should be pretty simple. It's a Replica on Saix's side. None of us would go in there and get them out…"

"It would also be someone who knew that you could get into that room," Lexaeus said.

"The only Replicas who _didn't _know that were the Larxene Replicas and the latter half of the Vexen Replicas, and _maybe _some of the Marluxias," Alpha said simply.

"I didn't know that," Lexaeus said.

"Okay, I stand corrected, congratulations," Alpha said, slightly miffed.

None of them noticed that while they were all arguing, Vexen had come up and retrieved the audio. He pressed 'play.'

'She's _crazy_! I don't see how you put up with her!' came the unmistakable voice of Xigbar.

"I'm not surprised," Amaryllis said.


	37. A Familiarish Girl

**Author's Note (forevermagik13): **So apparently, I've gotten on this kick where I upload a burst of chapters every few days. Right. Cool. For those of you who are reading my "Before the Epilogue," I just updated there. For those of you reading my old drafts, I updated there. Rarmaster updated "Dead Inside" yesterday and that is why I am updating "Can't Escape" because they're running parallel. This is what is going on not in Hollow Bastion lol.

Anywho, I wrote these snippets of scenes, I hope you enjoy them. Joseph's always fun to write. So is Alpha when he's protective over his computer. =P

Oh! And just a note, the stuff in italics down in the scene with Kairi... I'll let you guess who that is.

EDIT: It isn't so much as Tulip CAN'T kill Joseph. It's more of a WON'T. There is something about Joseph that even Tulip can't kill. Granted, that's not stopping the Larxene Replicas. But, they are, Larxene, in a way...

* * *

><p>"That was more corridor action," Alpha said, shoving Vexen out of the way as the computer bleeped again. After a moment he concluded: "Never mind, it was just 6. He decided it would be a great idea to corridor into his room rather than use the door."<p>

"Most of us do that," Amaryllis said.

"6 was already standing in front of his door," 2 said with a sigh.

"Was that a star shard that just went off?" Lexaeus said, casually looking over at the still-bleeping computer.

"Joseph just went somewhere," Vexen said. "Nothing out of the ordinary."

Amaryllis laughed. "Does 29 know?"

"I'm going to kill 37 myself," 19 said, finally waking up. "After I Reprogram Tulip."

"You do realize that we're locked out of the Rewriting Program, right?" Alpha said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'll figure something out," 19 muttered. "Where's 22?"

"7's taking care of him," 2 said. "If you want…"

19 was already out the door.

"I'm going to write that off as him getting hit on the head," Alpha said. "For he _knows _that we can't Rewrite anyone."

xx

Joseph had wanted to go immediately somewhere in search of a replacement sword. However, his nose convinced him to use the Repair Program first. He sat down across from Lotus, making a face as he did so.

"Keep doing that and I'll fix it so your face stays that way permanently," Lotus said, not entirely teasing.

Joseph sighed and relaxed his face. Lotus ran the Repair Program on Joseph's nose.

29 came and sat down next to Joseph, holding his shoulder as he did so.

"See! Aweas I oo…"

"Use the Repair Program?" 29 finished for Joseph, so that Joseph would stop talking while Lotus fixed his face.

Joseph would have nodded, but that would defeat the purpose.

29 shifted and winced. Tulip may have been Reprogrammed into a killing machine, but he still had a thing for shoulders. At this rate, he'd start looking like Riku…

"Up!" Lotus said. "You're done."

Joseph moved out of the way so that 29 could get Repaired.

"I'm very proud of what you did today, Joseph," 29 said quietly.

Joseph stopped dead in his tracks. "Really?" he asked.

29 nodded. "You were very helpful today."

"Does that mean…?"

29 grimaced. Though, it was unclear whether this was from the Repair or Joseph's question.

"I'd still prefer if you stayed out of the fray. I don't want it to be something more than your nose that gets broken next time."

Joseph sighed.

"But, we are still grateful," 29 said.

A smile began to form at the corners of Joseph's mouth.

"Hey," he said. "Do you think I could go to Twilight Town or something?"

29 nodded.

"Really?" Joseph asked, his eyes wide.

29 reached into his pocket and pulled out some munny.

"I still have WINNER sticks," Joseph said.

"I know, but Namine said you were running low. Have one on me today."

Joseph nodded and took the munny.

"Thanks," he said.

29 nodded.

Joseph activated the star shard.

xx

Except, he didn't appear in Twilight Town. Rather, he was in a town that appeared to be on an Island of sorts.

"What the…?" he began. Then he smacked his forehead in realization.

He hadn't really been thinking about Twilight Town when he'd activated the star shard, rather, he'd been thinking about places that he could get a new sword. Apparently, he could get one here.

He thought about places he could be and was instantly presented with where he was. Sora had talked about it a bit, though Namine had talked about it more: Destiny Islands. Sora had grown up here, and had gotten the sword here. Therefore, Joseph should be able to get a replacement here.

"Cool, now I just need to find a place that sells wooden swords. And, maybe, I'll actually have some munny left for some ice-cream."

He casually began walking through the little town. No one seemed to pay him any notice. He was about to go into a woodworking shop to see if they had any swords when he spotted someone oddly familiar.

He had seen her before, but not _this _her. Not unless he was randomly in that parallel universe again.

She looked different, younger. Her hair was shorter and she wore a school uniform. The other Kairi had worn an Organization cloak of all things. This Kairi was in a group of people, but even Joseph could tell that she looked detached. She replied to every statement made to her, but didn't seem to be really participating in the conversation.

There was another girl and two boys with her. One of the boys carried a giant ball. The other girl seemed to be bouncing as she just stood there. The other boy merely looked bored.

"I think Sora would want me to say hello at least," Joseph said to himself. "If not, Namine would."

With a determined nod, Joseph walked up to the group.

"Hello, do I know you?" the girl that wasn't Kairi asked.

"'Fraid not," Joseph said. He looked at Kairi. "Can I speak with you for a bit please, miss?"

Kairi seemed a bit shocked that this kid wanted to talk to her exclusively, but she wasn't too freaked out. After all, she talked to someone she couldn't even see just because he seemed to understand her in a way that Selphie, Tidus and Wakka didn't.

_You called?_

"You guys go on without me," she said. "I'll catch up with you later."

The three of them were about to protest, but thought better of it. Kairi had been acting weird ever since Sora left. And, they suppose they couldn't really blame her. They all gathered up their things and walked away.

Joseph watched them go with an interested expression on his face.

_Who the hell is this kid?_

"So what were you guys talking about, if you don't mind me asking?" he said. "You didn't seem too thrilled about it."

"School dances," Kairi said, making a face. "The three of them are trying to get me to go with someone. But the person I want to go with…"

"Isn't here," Joseph finished for her.

_But I am, dammit! Granted, I'm not exactly sure HOW that would work… since NO ONE can see me and she's the only one that seems to be able to hear me on a consistent basis besides Sora. Oh, and Cloud… and Aerith… oh nevermind. Regardless, no one could see me and I'm not even sure how we could hold hands or do all those other things that you do at dances…_

_ Damn, how I wish I could just hold her hand…_

"Wait, how did you know?"

"Do you want to go get ice cream or something?" Joseph asked. "I think I have enough munny for two…"

_Oh, it's this friggin kid. I remember him. What the HELL is he doing HERE? He's taking up my time with her…_

"If you want ice cream, I'll buy," Kairi said. "Worlds know I'm not spending my munny on anything else. _Especially _not that dress that Selphie says would look wonderful on me…"

_Well, of COURSE it would look wonderful on you…_

"You don't have to," Joseph said.

"I insist," Kairi said, pulling munny out of her purse. "You save yours for something that you want. Now, please tell me how you know him and how you know he's not here."

"Well, for starters, my name's Joseph," Joseph said, saluting.

Kairi giggled. It was probably the most organic laugh she'd laughed in a long time.

_DAMN! I'm supposed to be the one who makes her laugh..._


	38. An almost blown Cover

**Note from forevermagik13:** Sora's Shadow is way too fun to write. Eff. Moving on. Ya'll should check out my blog if you haven't already. There's a link on my profile. Rarmaster also has a blog and there's a link on her profile. There's loads of interesting stuff.

And now I feel like I'm pressuring you... don't feel pressured.

I'll go ahead and let you read the scene with Kairi and Joseph (and Shadow, since he's wormed his way in) now.

* * *

><p>"I'm Kairi, but I get the sense you already know that," Kairi said, looking at Joseph.<p>

Joseph shrugged. "I know Riku and Namine."

Kairi's eyes lit up. "Really? How are they doing? I figured she'd gotten to him by now…"

"They're…" Joseph began, making the face he always made when this subject came up. "Fine, I guess."

"What was that face for?"

"They're gross sometimes," Joseph replied.

_Yeah, sick NASTY gross. As much as I don't like this kid, I have to agree with him…_

"Wait, have they actually… like… gotten…"

Joseph snorted. "Yeah _right_. I have to wonder if they'd be less gross if they did."

He was internally relieved that Kairi seemed to see the same things that he did. And she was someone he could talk to about it! Since he _obviously _couldn't talk to Namine or Riku about it. And, well, none of the other Replicas cared…

By now Kairi had bought Joseph a chocolate ice cream bar and herself a strawberry one. They went to a little outside table thing just to the side of the ice cream parlor and began to eat their ice creams.

"So, how do you know Riku and Namine?"

"Well, Riku showed up at Castle Oblivion a _long _time ago looking for help to find Sora after he'd fallen into…"

Kairi grimaced.

"To look for Sora," Joseph corrected. "And somewhere in there, he got put in charge of the Rebellion against Saix. He kept saying he'd only stay until we found Sora, but even after that, he still stayed. Sora and I were gonna convince him to come here and see Namine because it was…"

"Wait, you've seen Sora?" Kairi asked.

_Damn, I was hoping she was going to miss that. Stupid kid for bringing that up. Now I'm gonna have to start all over again…_

_ Wait a second, how come this KID can mention him and she gets all excited-looking and the minute…_

_ Aw fu—_

Joseph swallowed a rather large bite of ice cream. He wiped his chin. "Uh, yeah, actually…"

"How is he? Where is he? How's he doing? Has he said anything about me? Has he gotten any of my letters?"

_Too fine for my liking. Olympus Coliseum. You asked that question twice, sweetie. He hasn't SAID anything, but he surely has THOUGHT a ton of stuff. And no, he hasn't gotten any of your letters. But I have…_

"Erm," Joseph said. "Well, he was at Castle Oblivion for a bit, but then he said he had to go away. I think he felt like he was getting in between Namine and Riku. I haven't seen him since. Though, he left a letter saying that Riku should go help out at Hollow Bastion and help with a Heartless problem there. And that was just a couple of days ago…"

Kairi sighed. "I just wish he'd come home."

_No you don't. Because the Sora that Sora's turning into is the Sora that you're scared of. And you know it._

"If I knew where he was, I'd bring him here. Then he could go to that dance with you!"

_Dammit! That's MY job._

Kairi laughed. "No, I'm sure that whatever he's doing is important and…"

"You're not telling the truth," Joseph said blatantly.

Kairi sighed. "Did he appear to be dealing with his darkness okay?"

Joseph nodded. "I even gave him a star shard so he wouldn't have to make dark corridors anymore."

_Shit! You're giving her hope. Now I've gotta work even harder… Grarg…_

Kairi sighed.

"Do you want to talk about something else?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, please," Kairi said. "Thank you though. You've at least let me know he's okay."

Joseph nodded. "So, do you want to hear about how Riku _kills _anyone anytime someone mentions that Namine is defective?"

_I wish Riku would show up and kill you right now, kid…_

Kairi laughed. "Why am I not surprised? Though, why would they say such a thing about her? She's so… I don't know, not defective-looking to me."

"You ever been around her when she has a meltdown?"

"Those weird memory things?" Kairi asked.

Joseph nodded. "Apparently, that means she's defective."

"That's horrible! I'd kill them too if I were Riku. So, you've mentioned a Rebellion and killing people, what's all that about?"

So, Joseph began to explain the Rebellion, as well as any other thing that came to Kairi' s mind. Joseph was glad to be able to talk to her. It was oddly like talking to Namine. Both girls were just so kind and made intelligent conversation. He wondered why that was. He wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that in another universe… Kairi and Namine were the same person…

Well, sort of.

Meanwhile, though no one noticed, there was a cocky black shadowy thing leaning casually against the building, watching the whole conversation go on. He was very miffed.

"So, do you know any place that I could get a wooden sword?" Joseph asked.

Kairi cocked her head to one side. "What for?"

Joseph looked down at his shoes. "Well, before Sora left Castle Oblivion, he gave me his. He said he didn't need it anymore with the Keyblade. However, in the last raid, it got broken by a stupid Larxene Replica. I want to buy another one to replace it."

"Well, if you go to that shop right there, you can get one," Kairi said, pointing to the woodworking shop that Joseph had almost gone into earlier.

"Sweet!" Joseph said, his eyes lighting up. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Sure! Why not? It's not like I'm doing anything else this afternoon."

_You could be spending it with me… but oh no… you'd rather spend it with some kid who you've just met… Though, granted, you CAN see him…_

The two of them went off in the direction of the woodworking shop. Sora's Shadow followed after them.

_Well then… _he thought. _The kid's got a lot more darkness now than he did before. The Rebellion's getting to him. Hey! Darkness that I didn't even have to mess with. Heheh._

Kairi and Joseph selected a new sword for the boy and he paid for it using the munny 29 had given him. He had just enough.

"Hey, were you planning on showing up at the other Island today at all?" Sora's Shadow asked Kairi, knowing she could hear him.

Her head whipped around to his general direction. She was still a foot or so off like she always was, but he'd learned to get used to that.

"Something the matter?" Joseph asked.

"I thought I heard…" Kairi began.

However, there wasn't any _thought _about it. She had heard him. And he knew it.

"Let me guess, you're not going to respond because that kid's there."

Sora's Shadow wasn't entirely sure why he was goading her, but he was sick of the brat and wanted to spend some time with just Kairi before he had to go and try and drag Sora into the darkness again. He had an appointment at Olympus Coliseum to keep.

"Someone's there, who's not there," Joseph said.

He looked in the general direction of Sora's Shadow.

_Really, now HE can hear me too? Great… Though, that would mean I'm getting stronger._

He wanted to ask if Joseph could hear him for sure, but he wasn't sure how to go about that…

"Wait, you can hear him too?" Kairi asked.

Never mind. He wouldn't need to.

"I can, sort of," Joseph said, frowning.

"I'm not crazy!" Kairi exclaimed.

"You've seen him before?" Joseph asked.

"Well, not seen, just heard. Can _you _see him?"

"No…"

_Don't mention that Namine's drawn me… don't mention that Namine's drawn me…_

"Is something wrong?" Kairi asked.

"I don't think so," Joseph said, shaking his head. "Anyway, thanks for ice cream and stuff. I really should get back before 29 starts to worry or send someone after me."

"Okay, well, thanks for visiting!"

"Yeah! I should come back sometime!"

"Yes, you should!"

Joseph saluted and activated his star shard.

_I thought he'd NEVER leave…_

"Have you run into Joseph before?" Kairi asked, walking past him.

He started to follow her.

"Literally, yes, actually. Well, it was more like I ran through him. It was an accident. I was distracted."

Kairi laughed. "Smooth one there. So he can hear you too?"

"Only sometimes. You're one of like, five people who can hear me all the time that I've noticed. Though, maybe more could if I tried. I'm picky about who I talk to."

Kairi reached the dock and began getting into her boat to row over to the other island.

"So you'll talk to me now that he's gone?" he continued.

"Well, I didn't want to look like I was crazy. Sorry."

He shrugged, even though she couldn't see it. He sat across from her on the boat, even though he didn't need to. "No matter. I understand."

"Though, I have to wonder why he was frowning at you like that… Was he frowning at you? He seemed to be frowning in your general direction…"

_Oh, he was only frowning at me because from what he knows of me… I'm 6's worst nightmare. Damn, that kid could have blown my cover so bad… _

_ And then I wouldn't be able to come back here…_

"He was a bit off," he replied.

_Of course, he was closer than you. But sometimes, I wonder if you pointedly DON'T look at me…_

"So, why pick today to show up? Out of curiosity."

"You thought of me. Generally, I show up when people think of me."

Kairi frowned, trying to remember when he'd come up in her thoughts.

"Oh yeah," she said. "Were you there for the whole conversation then?"

"Well, sure. I was nice and didn't eavesdrop though."

He actually felt bad for that lie. He also felt bad that she was the one rowing them out to the other island, even though he didn't present any more weight to her. It must be the…

What. The. Heck. Why was he trying to be chivalrous?

"So," she asked, getting out of the boat. He confessed that he enjoyed the view.

"What do you want to talk about today?"

"Anything you want to," he replied.


	39. Parallel Universes and Pronouns

**Note from forevermagik13:** Hi everyone! So this chapter started off as one of the first few chapters of my sequel... and then I decided that it'd be more interesting if the star shard took my charries to rar's universe. So I asked rar and she said yes... so... yeah... hence why this is getting posted here. If you want the longer explanation, I'll totally go into detail on my blog. But you've gotta tell me you want it, because it's long and confusing lol. Other than that... enjoy!

* * *

><p>Xion pulled at the bottoms of the shorts that Kairi had lent her.<p>

"I should have just insisted on the pants," she muttered.

"It's too hot for pants," Kairi replied, not even turning around.

The three girls were walking around the market in Destiny Islands, in search of a wardrobe for both Namine and Xion.

"Yeah, but that's only if we stay here," Xion argued. "Didn't you say something about having to go to Twilight Town?"

"That's only if I can't find the pants I want here," Kairi said.

"You're looking for pants!"

"For the purpose of fighting!"

"I'm buying pants and I'm wearing them," Xion muttered.

"Look, I'm sorry that the shorts ended up being shorter than I had originally thought they were. Turns out it had been a longer time since I last wore them that I had thought."

Xion tugged at the bottoms of the shorts again. She looked over at Namine.

"Do you want to back me up?" she asked.

"Um… no, not really," Namine said.

"You're no help."

"Sorry. I'm finding your arguing oddly amusing."

"Aw, gee, thanks!" Xion said sarcastically.

"Here we go," Kairi said, ushering them to a store.

"Are we looking for anything in particular?" Xion asked.

"Clothes that you'd want to wear, that fit you," Kairi said. "And it'd probably be beneficial if they were clothes you could randomly fight Heartless in."

"Life was easier in Organization cloaks," Xion muttered, grabbing a pair of pants.

Namine laughed to herself quietly and picked out a couple of skirts, and a cardigan that she liked.

"Ha! They do have the pants I want!" Kairi exclaimed. "The best part about them is the pockets. I could fit _so _much stuff into them."

"Do they come in black?" Xion asked.

Kairi tossed her a pair.

"Khaki, please," Namine said, holding out her hand.

Kairi laughed and handed her a pair.

xx

Fifteen minutes later, each girl had several new outfits.

"I don't even think we'll need to go anywhere else," Kairi said as they left the market. "That was very productive."

"Kairi, your pocket is lighting up," Namine said.

"I have a star shard," Kairi said. "Is it going off?"

"Only one way to find out," Xion said, grabbing one of Kairi's arms. Namine hastily grabbed the other.

The three girls soon found themselves bouncing through the stars. They landed in Hollow Bastion, all of their ears ringing.

Kairi shook her head to clear it. "I brought it with me just in case we wanted to go somewhere else, I never would have thought it would just randomly go off."

"I remember King Mickey saying something about them taking you where you need to be taken sometimes," Namine said, looking about. "We appear to be in Hollow Bastion."

"Maybe Cid needs our help," Kairi said, trying to get her bearings in order to head to the Restoration Committee Headquarters. "Guys, is it just me, or does it feel different here?"

"Now that you mention it," Namine said, frowning. "It does."

Xion just shrugged. "I've never been here before."

"Hello, there," came a familiar voice.

"Aerith!" Kairi said.

Aerith looked as if she had just been grocery shopping. She had several baskets in her hands, but didn't appear to be needing (or wanting) help. She cocked her head to one side at Kairi's greeting.

"Do I know you?"

Kairi blanched. "Um…"

"Namine?" Aerith said.

"Yes?" Namine asked.

"Weren't you just here? Where's Riku?"

"Erm, no, I wasn't… Riku's back on Destiny Islands…"

Aerith frowned. "Something fishy is going on here. You three should come with me."

"How does she suddenly not know who we are?" Xion whispered.

"She knows who I am, but I don't think she knows the me that you guys know."

"Do you want to explain that for the rest of us?" Xion asked.

xx

Aerith led them into her house, which wasn't the Restoration Committee Headquarters that Kairi and Namine had seen before.

"Leon, can you help me with these?" she said.

"Oh, we would have…" Kairi began.

"Who are these people?" Cid asked, coming over. "Namine?"

"Yes, but I'm not the Namine you think I am," Namine said.

"What are you getting at?" Kairi asked.

"Joseph," Namine responded.

"Who?" Xion asked.

"Remember, the boy from a parallel universe?" Namine said.

"Oh!" Kairi said.

"You girls smell like a parallel…" Cid began.

"Parallel universes have a smell?" Yuffie asked, interrupting him.

"Well, sure they do," Cid said.

"I think you're lying!" Yuffie exclaimed.

"Yeh don' even know what yer talkin' about!"

"I do so!"

Leon, who had finished taking the baskets to the kitchen where Aerith was currently putting away groceries, came back out to the front room.

"Ignore them," he said, covering his face with a hand. "I'm Leon."

He offered out his hand for the girls to shake.

"Parallel universe, huh?" he asked.

"I suppose so," Kairi said.

"I would say yes," Namine said. "Considering we know who you all are, and you all appear to know who I am, but we're not the we we think we know."

"Ouch!" Yuffie groaned. "Way to make my head hurt."

Leon snorted. "Well, that's Yuffie and Cid, and Aerith. And you're Namine…"

"I'm Kairi," Kairi said.

"Xion."

"Pleased to meet you!" Aerith called from the kitchen.

"The real question is," Cid said. "Is why they're here."

"The star shard I had in my pocket just activated," Kairi said. "We haven't quite figured out why; much less why we're in a different universe."

"They missed the giant Heartless battle," Yuffie muttered.

"Could travelling across universes mess with that?" Aerith asked, coming out into the room with the rest of them.

"Nah," Cid said. "Star shards are more accurate than tha'."

"Which means that they're here for something else," Leon said.

"Not more Heartless!" Yuffie groaned.

"It may not necessarily be bad," Leon said.

"Stuff like this usually is," Yuffie mumbled.

"So, you're Kairi, right?" Aerith said, cutting Yuffie off before she could go any further.

Kairi nodded.

"Sora mentioned you," she said. "Well, the Sora from our universe did."

"Knowing Sora, I'm not surprised," Kairi said, laughing.

"Some things don't change across universes," Namine muttered, smiling.

"Whoa!" Xion exclaimed, stepping away from the table that she had been leaning against. "What the…?"

A Shadow Heartless slowly made its way out from under the table. She summoned her Keyblade.

"Oh, don't kill it," Aerith said. "Let me go get a broom. There's always one that manages to get in…"

"Aerith likes teh jus' shoo the small ones ou'side," Cid said as Aerith went into the kitchen to retrieve the broom.

"Your Keyblade's all shiny," Yuffie said, looking at Xion's Keyblade.

"Uh, sure, I guess," Xion said, shrugging. Her Keyblade looked like it always looked.

"Well, Riku's blade was all crooked and mean-looking, and Sora's blade looked like it was in a constant state of repair," Yuffie said.

"Oh, Riku's probably got Soul Eater then," Namine said. "He just hasn't gotten his Keyblade yet."

"Hey may not get it," Leon said. "He's a replica."

He didn't say this in a condescending manner, he only stated it as fact. However, the implications were clear: Riku was programmed to have Soul Eater and that was about it.

Namine frowned. _I wonder who he's a replica of…_

That was an obvious question.

_The more appropriate question is… which Riku is this Riku a replica of?_


	40. Refusing to kill the Shadow

**Author's Note: **Hi! Part 2 of this lovely crossover project! Nothing much that I can think of to say at the moment... so yeah, enjoy!

* * *

><p>Namine's thoughts were interrupted by Kairi asking:<p>

"What do you mean that Sora's blade was in a state of repair?"

Her question never got answered though. Aerith had batted the Shadow to the door with the broom and had found a more pleasant surprise waiting outside.

"Tifa!" she exclaimed.

"Refusing to kill the little ones, again, Aerith?" Tifa asked with a laugh.

Aerith laughed and shrugged. "You just missed Cloud, I feel bad… I tried to make him stay, but you know how he gets when he gets an idea in his head…"

"No, I didn't miss him," Tifa interrupted. "I found him at Olympus Coliseum. Good thing too, he'd gotten himself skewered again."

"By what?" Leon asked, frowning.

"I _think _it was a Keyblade of Darkness…"

"Keyblade of Darkness, who wields one of t…" Kairi began. "Oh, that's a dumb question."

"Xehanort had one," Xion said.

"Well, hello, who are you?" Tifa asked, coming inside alongside Aerith.

"I'm Kairi, this is Namine, and this is Xion," Kairi offered.

"We're from a parallel universe," Xion added. "Just to get all that on the table."

"And just when I thought my day couldn't get any weirder," Tifa muttered, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"Is Cloud okay?" Aerith asked.

"Sure, I fixed him up alright," Tifa said, shrugging. "He made a fuss about it, though, there was a _ton _of darkness in the wound."

"You said Keyblade," Leon said. "Was Sora there?"

Tifa nodded.

"Was anyone else there?"

"No one that I could see, but Sora sure was fighting something…"

"His Shadow," Leon muttered.

"Pardon?" Tifa asked.

"Sora has a shadow?" Kairi asked.

"And some things are different across universes…" Namine mused.

"Here we go again," Aerith muttered. "Let me go make up some tea. Sit down while Leon explains…"

xx

Everyone took a seat around the large table. Yuffie looked bored, Cid looked like he couldn't care, Tifa looked genuinely interested. Kairi, Namine and Xion all looked intrigued. Leon looked like he was about to give a lecture he'd already given.

"Maybe you three will be able to give us some insight," Leon said. "Typically, things tend to occur similarly across universes."

"We can try," Namine said.

"Sora dabbled too close to the darkness," Leon began. "To put it simply."

Kairi gasped, but motioned for Leon to continue.

"Since then, he's developed a dark shadow that follows him around. A lot of people will have this happen when they get too close to the darkness."

Tifa nodded in understanding. Cloud had a dark shadow once…

Aerith brought tea to the table and passed everyone a cup, then she sat down herself. She was frowning, but only slightly. Sora's Shadow had that effect on people.

Leon continued, "The shadows can do anything from play puppet master, to possession, to merely trying to drag the person back down into darkness. Regardless, the two feed off each other until one is exactly like the other. Unless, one of them can be defeated first, and it isn't always the shadow that gets defeated."

Namine frowned and took a drink of her tea.

"I'm afraid we're not going to be much help here. In our universe, it was Riku that got too close to the darkness. And he took care of Ansem before things got bad. And I _know _he'll argue me on that one, but still. Ansem got taken care of."

"I still don't get it," Yuffie muttered. "Why can't everyone see this shadow-thingy?"

"Sora's Shadow in particular can only be seen by Sora, given the plane of existence he's on," Leon explained, his voice strained.

Kairi and Namine snorted.

"Yes?" Leon asked.

"Nothing," Namine said, shaking her head. "Sorry, continue."

Kairi picked up her cup and slowly sipped at her tea to cover her laughter. Both of them were thinking back to Namine's experiences with odd planes of existences.

Leon frowned at them, but continued. "However, some people can hear Sora's Shadow because they've had experiences with darkness in the past and they know what to listen for."

"They don't even have to have experiences with darkness," Aerith said, her voice somber. "They just need to have a good enough picture in their heads of what darkness is."

Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Sorry," Aerith said, waving her hand in a dismissing gesture. "Continue."

"Don't be sorry," Leon said, picking up his tea for the first time and downing half of it in one gulp. "It's different for everyone. Now, where was I?"

"I think we get the picture," Tifa said, looking at Aerith.

Aerith had the look on her face that she always got when Zack was close to being mentioned. She gripped her cup of tea like it was her lifeblood.

"I'm sorry," Kairi said. "Really, I am, but there's something I just can't wrap my head around. _Why _would Sora get so close to the darkness to have someone comparable to _Ansem _following him around trying to drag him back into the darkness?"

Namine put a hand on her shoulder. "Things are just different in this universe. Think of it this way, the people here probably have a hard time comprehending Riku falling in."

"What's the Sora like in your universe?" Yuffie asked, trying to change the subject to something that she understood. And also something that made Aerith less edgy.

"Well, he's bright, and happy," Kairi said, her face growing red at the question. "He's not against the darkness, but he certainly wouldn't get close to it as a personal choice. He knows there's a balance to keep."

"The Sora we know isn't evil," Aerith said, gently. "He's just trying to find his light."

Namine and Xion instinctively looked at Kairi.

"You said Sora had mentioned me, or the Kairi he knows," Kairi said. "What all did he say?"

"Well, he mentioned that she's a friend of his and that he hasn't seen her in a while," Aerith said.

"He always got a little touchy when teh subject came up," Cid said.

"He thinks she hates him," Kairi said quietly.

"What would give you tha' idea?" Cid said.

"Joseph," Kairi said. "He's this boy we ran into a while ago. He was from a parallel universe. And I'm beginning to think that we're in the universe that he was from—mostly because I refuse to believe that there are many universes where Sora would do something to make himself think that Kairi would hate him, and dabbling in darkness is probably a good enough reason."

"Joseph," Cid muttered, scratching his chin. "I remember Riku and Namine mentionin' somethin' about him…"

"This should clear things up," Namine said. "Well, maybe. The Riku that you know, is he in charge of a Rebellion going on in Castle Oblivion?"

"Yes," Leon answered.

Kairi and Namine exchanged excited glances.

"I'm so lost," Yuffie muttered, resting her chin in her hands.

"Me too," Xion said quietly, sipping her tea. "Mostly because I wasn't there for the conversation with Joseph."

"Parallel universes confuse me," Yuffie said.

Xion shrugged. "I've seen a lot of weird things. I've _been through _weird things."

"Yeah?"

"Try getting destroyed and rebuilt," Xion said, laughing.

"Wha—?"

"I'm a replica," Xion said. "Weird stuff tends to happen around you."

Yuffie wasn't sure what to say to that.

"Tha' doesn' necessarily prove that we're talking about the same universe though," Cid said, looking between Namine and Kairi. "There can be a lot of similarities between close parallels."

"Do Riku and Namine look like they should be together but actually aren't?" Namine asked.

Leon snorted. Cid nodded. Aerith laughed.

"Right, that's enough to convince me," Namine said. "But I'm out of other stuff to try and prove things one way or another."

"Would be interestin'," Cid said. "Perhaps our universe and your universe are tied together somehow. Provided the Joseph you met was from this universe."

"What would tie two universes together?" Xion asked.

"Someone meddlin'," Cid replied. "Some person doing some tiny little thing between two universes that caused the two of them to be woven together."

"It's like eating a Paopu fruit," Kairi said. "When two people share one their destinies become intertwined."

"Well, it's not as poetic as tha'," Cid said. "But tha's the general idear."

"Okay, I know this is off-topic," Yuffie said, looking at Tifa. "But where did Cloud go after you helped him become unskewered again?"

"He said he was going after Sora again," Tifa said. "He's trying to look out for him because he knows the signs. Either that, or he just needs to be on his own again for a while."

She sighed and rested her cheek on a fist.

"Not that the last fifteen minutes was _any _indication saying that things happen similarly across universes," Kairi said. "But the Cloud that I know found his light again."

Tifa smiled. "Thanks, that's comforting."

"So did Riku," Namine said. "There's hope for Sora, too."

"I would _hope _Riku found his light," Xion said, jabbing Namine in the ribs.

Namine flushed bright red.

Cid raised his eyebrows and Aerith smiled knowingly.

"I wish I could feign ignorance to what you're talking about, but I can't."

Everyone burst out laughing.


	41. Following the Pronouns

**Author's Note: **Yes, the Stranger. And yes, it was Namine who said the "feigning ignorance" line. Tifa didn't drag Sora and Cloud to Hollow Bastion because Sora's busy dealing with his darkness OUTSIDE of Hollow Bastion so no one else gets hurt. Of course, Cloud still went and got himself hurt, but... yeah... (rar, correct me if I'm wrong.) Then Cloud's going after Sora to keep an eye on him. Fun stuff. And... we don't want to freak Sora out right now. It'd be up there with Riku's panic attack about seeing Namine. Trust me, such things will occur in due time. For now, enjoy the reason why this thing is so long. Sora's Shadow.

And, I will repeat to my chagrin. He's fun to write for. Though, I found myself censoring him, a lot. *sigh* He kept wanting to call Namine names, and I won't allow for that. Nor will I allow for the f-word.

* * *

><p>The Shadow appeared in Hollow Bastion. The darkness of this world was comforting. It wasn't like Olympus Coliseum was bright, because it wasn't. It was balanced though. Hollow Bastion was so skewed that it made it nice.<p>

He wandered about the streets, basking in the warped world that had been plunged into darkness one too many times. He tried not to think about how he had to run away from that last battle, about how that girl had been _so damn bright. _

Something in Aerith's house caught his attention. Or rather, the headache that he was immediately presented with caught his attention.

It wasn't the headache that he got when he got close to just anything bright…

It was the headache he got when he was around Kairi.

But what would Kairi be doing here?

He waltzed right into Aerith's front room. First, he had to grimace at the sight of Tifa. Why did she have to go and be here?

But then his eyes fell on Kairi. He didn't immediately notice that her hair was different and that she looked older. He _did _notice that Namine was sitting right next to her. He frowned, trying to figure that one out. He knew that they knew each other, but why were they here? And who was that girl with the short black hair that his mind was giving him _no _information on?

He made his way over so he was standing behind Kairi and the girl who he had no name for.

"What are you doing here? I didn't know you got off the Islands much," he whispered in her ear, trying to avoid being noticed by Leon or Aerith, both of whom could hear him on occasion.

However, Kairi did not respond.

"Seriously, you're ignoring me again?" he asked. "No one here's gonna think you're crazy!"

"Is someone talking?" Namine asked, looking about the room.

"Okay since when…" he began.

"No, I didn't hear anyone," Kairi said.

She wasn't his Kairi. Something in her voice…

Then Namine looked right at him.

Not, _about _him like everyone besides Sora and Cloud did, but _right at _him.

Well, _that _was disorienting. But, this could prove to be interesting.

Namine frowned at him.

"You just have a knack for showing up when people are talking about you, don't you?" she asked.

"You guys were talking about me? How sweet! Pity I missed it, I was too busy kicking Sora's ass!"

Namine raised an eyebrow. "And shoving a Keyblade through Cloud."

"Wait a second…" Tifa said.

_I wonder if she can hear me… or if she only knows that because Namine had to go and mention it… I'm not sure how much strength I've got since I'm not feeding off of anyone right now. Not any significant darkness… eff. _

He could tell that Tifa couldn't _see _him though, considering she was only looking in his general direction.

"Hey, let's keep that on the down-lo, okay? He was interfering with me dragging Sora into the darkness."

He leaned against the wall casually. What was creepy, was that Namine followed his gaze, staring directly into his eyes the entire time. Not even Sora had the balls to do that.

"It's a good thing Kairi can't hear you," she said.

"What'd he say?" Kairi asked, looking at Namine.

Namine didn't respond to Kairi out loud. However, Kairi must have gotten the gist somehow, for she frowned in his general direction. He decided he didn't like it when Kairi, _any _Kairi, frowned.

_Shit, I should probably keep my mouth shut… if they tell any of this to Kairi… I'm screwed. And I thought the thing with Joseph was close…_

"Not all of us have telepathy," Xion said. "Kindly tell the rest of us what is going on?"

"He's bragging about trying to drag Sora into the darkness," Leon explained. "However, I don't think it worked."

"How do you know?" Shadow argued.

"If it had worked, you wouldn't be here."

"Valid, I suppose."

"Why are you here?" Aerith asked, looking at him. He didn't like the look on her face.

"Why do you care?"

"You're in my house, I think I have the right to care."

He rolled his eyes. "It's none of your business."

"You had to run away," Namine said slowly. "You didn't overpower Sora, he was…"

"Shut up!" he roared, looking directly at her. She flinched, it made him happy. "How could you even…"

He began picking her mind. The first thing he got was possibly the most juiciest thing he could have hoped for.

"It's _you_!" he exclaimed. "You're _that _Namine! You're the reason why he's so messed up."

"What?" Namine asked, leaning away from him. "What do you mean?"

"You…" he began laughing at the brilliance of this all. "You…" he couldn't even get the word out between guffaws. "You shattered his memories!"

All the blood drained out of Namine's face.

"Okay, I heard that one," Kairi said. She looked at Namine. "Who's memories…"

"Oh-ho!" the Shadow laughed. "And you haven't told them! That's even better."

All of this off of one memory! He could have fun with this.

"Aw, man, I haven't had this much fun since I was teasing Aerith about Zack!"

There was a shattering of glass as a cup hit the wall behind the Shadow's head. The remnants of tea dripped to the floor.

All eyes looked to Aerith. She had thrown her cup of tea right at him. Had he been on the same plane of existence as the rest of them, it would have knocked him right in the head.

Namine stood up.

"You can tell everyone about what I've done, I don't care," she seethed. "But you do _not _get to be mean to Aerith!"

"I dunno what he said, but it had to have been bad," Cid muttered, chewing on a piece of straw. "It had somethin' to do with _him _though."

"What are you going to do about it?" the Shadow asked, raising an eyebrow cockily at Namine.

"I'll fight you if I have to," Namine said.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" he asked, summoning his chains and twirling them around. Namine frowned at them.

"They remind you of all those memories you unchained?" he taunted.

"Do your worst," Namine said. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You should know that you're going to regret that," he said, summoning a bunch of Neoshadows.

"Hey look, enemies I can _see_!" Xion exclaimed.

With a wave of Namine's hand, they all disappeared.

"Not in the house," Namine said.

"And how are _you _going to stop me?"

He summoned up some more Neoshadows.

Namine made them disappear as well.

Leon, Aerith and Kairi were watching the exchange between Namine and the Shadow with piqued interest. Yuffie was in shock that Namine had just taken out not one, but _two _rounds of Neoshadows without even breaking a sweat. Tifa, Xion and Cid were waiting to see what would be summoned next.

"Why couldn't she be here for the Heartless battles," Yuffie muttered. Tifa frowned at her, not that Yuffie cared.

"I could do this all day," the Shadow said lazily.

Namine knew she couldn't, but she wasn't about to tell him that.

"Why doesn't he, like, actually attack you?" Xion asked. "As opposed to just summoning up Heartless that you can shatter."

"Oh, so _that's _what she'd doing to them," he said. He'd been wondering how she'd been making them disappear, however, he hadn't really spared any effort in actually, you know, _caring._

Then, he laughed. "You're shattering them like you shattered—"

He paused to look at the expression on her face. He was expecting one of horror or shock, or pleading for him not to finish that statement for the two, maybe three, other people in the room that could hear him. However, the look on her face was just _daring _him to say it. She turned to look at Xion.

"It's because he's on a weird plane of existence," Namine said. "He can't physically touch me, nor I him."

"Then how are you planning on fighting…" Xion began, but she was cut off by the Shadow's voice that she heard for the first time.

"Shattered Riku."

He had been pulling at the small tendrils of darkness coming from her since they'd started this battle. She was darker than he would have originally thought. _Definitely _darker than the other Namine. Plus, there were the dark thoughts that he'd been getting off of Aerith ever since he'd mentioned Zack's name. He figured he could expend the little extra energy to let _everyone _in the room hear about what Namine had done to poor, poor, Riku. Or, from her perspective, the Riku Replica. Those were about the only thoughts he could pick up on, because they were the darkest—sure, there were some others about unchaining things, stuff about people he didn't care about. But the stuff about Riku was the best.

Because, as fate would have it, the Riku that she had shattered, happened to be the Riku that Sora had struck in a fit of anger, beginning the downward spiral into darkness.

Which, essentially, had led to his entire existence. Provided you followed the pronouns.

And! To make it all better, she thought he was dead. And he wasn't about to tell her otherwise.

Meanwhile, all eyes had turned to Namine. Namine had bit down hard on her lip. She squinted her eyes shut for just a moment, then she relaxed. She looked down at her shoes.

"In Castle Oblivion," she began. "Our Castle Oblivion, Vexen made a replica of Riku—our Riku. I was the one who gave him memories, because that's what I did. I controlled all the memories in that blasted castle. However, mere _days _later, Larxene threw him on my table and told me that I had to Rewrite his memories, to make him think that he was the Real Riku. I didn't want to, I wanted to tell her how unstable it would make him… but it wouldn't have mattered even if I had, she wouldn't have believed me. So I rewrote him, out of fear. This caused him to begin to deteriorate because the memories in his head were more like fragmented shards than a complete chain. He was going to kill Sora, so I had to shatter his already unstable heart. If I had had more time, I would have come up with a better option, but I only had a split-second..."

She paused, but didn't look up from her shoes.

"Why didn't you mention anything?" Kairi asked.

"I… I didn't want to."

"But, the Riku Replica," Xion said. "I've been through the Database in Castle Oblivion. It says he was terminated by Riku."

"He was…"

The Shadow burst out laughing. He clapped his hands.

"Well, everyone, I think we've come leaps and bounds from where we were ten minutes ago. How does it feel to have everything out in the open, Namine?"

"A hell of a lot better," she said, looking up directly at him. He almost flinched. It was unnerving how she could _do _that.

"What I _don't _get," she continued, taking a step closer to him. "Is how you know him."

"I can read all your dark little thoughts, missy," he taunted.

"No, you know him personally. Or, at least know _of _him."

"I never said that."

"Your exact words were: You're _that _Namine. You're the reason why he's so messed up. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but that implies to me that you know of the Riku Replica."

Namine closed her eyes. Kairi and Xion exchanged wary glances.

The Shadow suddenly felt something poking around in his brain. He instinctively threw up a wall, like he did with every thought about Kairi when Sora was around. Namine grimaced.

"You're poking around in my head!" he exclaimed.

"And that was a thought about Kairi that I didn't need to see," Namine muttered.

"What…?" Kairi began.

"You don't want to know," Namine said.

Kairi grimaced.

"Get out of my head you bi—"

"Enough!" Aerith screamed.

* * *

><p>*laughs nervously* Sorry to leave you at a cliffie like that... but, it was the best place to split this section. I'll have more up soon :)<p> 


	42. In Which Tifa Gets a New Pair of Gloves

**Note from forevermagik13: **Hey! ... Well... you can't tell... but I just tried to type five different things before realizing that none of them is a good enough introduction for this. So, I'll stop trying. Read, enjoy. Erm, check out my blog for lots of fun stuff (link in profile.) That's all!

Oh! Wait! Flightfoot! I never actually said that Namine thought she'd killed him when she'd shattered him. She'll explain it more here, but she never thought that.

* * *

><p><em>"Enough!" Aerith screamed.<em>

The Shadow, who had actually thrown up his hands in between himself and Namine as if it would stop her from getting into his head, lowered them cautiously. Namine's eyes flew open. Leon, who had been leaning back on the back to legs of his chair this whole time, jerked forward as he sat at-attention. Yuffie and Cid sat up straight as well. Xion flinched. Kairi looked up at Aerith expectantly. The look on Tifa's face was hard to read as she gazed up at Aerith from where she sat.

No one had ever seen Aerith this angry. Upset, yes. Angry, never.

"You barge into my house, you insult my guests, you insult me, you summon up Heartless, and now you're just antagonizing everyone like a…"

"Don't finish that comment, sweetie," the Shadow warned.

"Out!" Aerith screamed. "Get. Out. Of. My. _House_!"

The Shadow shrugged, though no one (except possibly Namine) could see. Then, in a puff of darkness that everyone but Yuffie could see, he was gone.

Aerith sunk down into her chair and buried her face in her hands. Namine hesitantly returned to her own seat. She was shaking, but she hardly even noticed it.

_Imagine what would have happened if Riku or Sora were here… _Kairi thought.

_It would have been a mess. I'm almost glad they weren't… _Namine replied.

"Thank you," Aerith said quietly. "For standing up for me."

"You're welcome," Namine said. "You would have done the same for me."

Aerith nodded.

"How much of his memories could you see?" Kairi asked.

"Enough to get an accurate picture of what he looked like, where he was standing, and a general grasp of what he was thinking at any given time. I could see his eyes…"

She shuddered.

"He sounded like Sora…" Yuffie said quietly. "Just a whole lot meaner."

Leon covered his face with a hand.

"Well o'course he does!" Cid stated. "He's his shadow!"

"But Sephiroth sounded nothing like Cloud," Tifa said quietly.

"I stan' corrected," Cid muttered. "Well anyway, that was quite the dinner and a show—haf' a show, anyways."

"We didn't even have dinner!" Yuffie argued.

"So? It's par' of the sayin'!"

"But that doesn't even make sense!"

"I'll go make dinner. Then it'll make sense. You gals stayin'?"

"If you don't mind," Kairi said.

"'Course not. I'll go whip something up."

"Cid, you don't have to," Aerith began.

"Nonsense," Cid interrupted. "You jus' relax. I'll take care of the food."

As he meandered into the kitchen, those closest could hear him add: "An' save some dishes…"

There was a silence at the table, no one wanting to speak first, not even Yuffie. Tifa quietly got up and went over to put an arm around Aerith. Aerith closed her eyes and sighed.

Then Leon spoke up:

"So, you're a Memory…" he paused.

"You can say it. You won't be the first." Namine's voice was quiet.

"I wasn't quite sure what to tack on to the end of that. Sorceress perhaps?"

"Where I come from, it was Memory Witch."

"That sounds as bad as the d-word," Yuffie muttered.

"D-word?" Xion asked.

"Defective," Yuffie whispered. "Riku almost chopped off my head when I said it."

Xion winced.

"He wouldn' have done so if you had been watchin' what you were talkin' abou'!" Cid called from the kitchen.

Yuffie chose not to respond.

"But yes," Namine continued. "I can chain, unchain, re-chain, and shatter anybody's memories. I've only ever done it to one person. And, you all know who that is."

"I'm going to voice this, since all of you are avoiding the issue," Tifa said, looking around at everyone. "Is the Riku that you supposedly shattered the Riku that currently exists in this universe?"

"That's what I was picking the Shadow's brain so hard to find out," Namine said. "I think…I think he is the same."

"But the Database…" Xion began.

"That information was either updated by Vexen or a Vexen Replica," Namine interrupted. "Yes, the Riku Replica fought Riku. Yes, Riku won. But, what if, what if something stopped the Riku Replica from completely disappearing?"

"So, what," Kairi said. "He lost a fight to Riku and then formed a corridor and ended up here because the universes are connected?"

Namine shook her head. "He wouldn't have been able to."

"Why not?" Kairi asked.

Namine raised an eyebrow. "This is Riku we're talking about. At the time, the Riku Replica would not have been enough of a match for him."

"So some other force would have had to," Tifa said.

"What if the Riku Replica is the reason why the universes are connected?" Kairi asked. "He's injured and hurt and then someone comes along and takes him someplace safe, which happens to be this universe."

"We might have found the victim of what is tying the two universes together," Leon said. "But that doesn't answer who brought him over here in the first place."

"Does it matter?" Namine asked, laughing in astonishment. "He's alive! The last I saw him, he said he'd deal with the fact that his memories were a wreck. Then, I thought, he went and committed suicide by going after Riku… but, he's alive. He is well, is he not?"

"Well sure, I would say," Leon said.

"He seems fine teh me!" Cid called. "So's Namine."

Namine laughed. "He found another Namine to protect."

"That's good, right?" Kairi asked.

Namine shrugged. "It would seem so. I'd have to see him myself to be sure. I wonder if he's angry with me…"

"Don't think like that," Kairi cautioned. "We just got Riku to stop being broody and guilty. Don't you start."

Namine tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Just food for thought."

"You could probably go see him," Yuffie said. "If you wanted to… he's in Castle Oblivion."

"But short of taking a Gummi Ship, there's no telling which Castle Oblivion they'd end up in," Leon said. "Using star shards and dark corridors could very easily lead them back to their own universe."

"I think we should probably be getting back home after dinner," Kairi said. "There's no doubt that Sora, Riku and Roxas are wondering how long it takes us to shop."

"We could always come back, couldn't we?" Xion asked. "Especially if the universes are connected."

Leon shrugged. "Chances are high."

"Dinner's up!" Cid called.

"I'll help him bring it to the table," Tifa said.

"Thank yeh!"Cid called.

"Oh, before I forget," Tifa said. "Do you have another pair of gloves for me, Aerith? Cloud bloodied my last pair beyond using them anymore."

"Oh," Xion said, digging into her bag. "Here!"

She handed Tifa a pair of gloves.

"They're Organization quality, nothing'll mess those up."

"Are you sure?" Tifa asked, taking the gloves.

Xion nodded and held up her own hands. "As you can see, I already have a pair. Plus I've got three more at home and know where to get dozens more."

"Thank you!" Tifa said, tucking the gloves into her belt. Then she went to go help Cid with dinner.

xx

The Shadow appeared in the Dark Margin. He came here because he knew no one else would. No Memory Witches who could destroy every Heartless he threw at her. No Kairi's that weren't his own Kairi. No blasted bright girls who could give him nasty headaches. No meddling people who had dabbled so far into darkness that they could see him and therefore be a nuisance. No one.

A bottle bumped up against his shoe.

"Another one?" he asked, picking the bottle up and bashing it against the ground to break it. Prying the letters out took too much time.

.

Sora,

I met a boy who said he knew you today. He told me you were doing well. I hope that is true. I miss you. You're missing the school dance. Selphie's trying to get me to go with someone else, but I don't want to go unless you're there. Not that I'm telling you that you have to come home for a stupid school dance, I'm just saying.

I really do miss you. Please come home soon.

Kairi

.

Out of sheer anger, the Shadow lit the letter on fire. He would regret that later. She still had yet to mention him though, which was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because if Sora actually stumbled upon one of these letters, he'd be screwed. Bad, because, well, she didn't trust herself or Sora enough to mention him.

It was a bittersweet feeling.

He hated bittersweet.

He also hated chivalry.

xx

"Thank you very much for dinner," Kairi said. "It was very good."

"Yes, thank you!" Namine said.

Xion merely nodded through a roll that she had shoved in her mouth the last second.

"Any time," Cid said. "Yer all welcome to come back an' visit."

"We just might," Kairi said. "From what you guys say of Heartless problems, you sound like you could use the help."

"For the most part, we've got it covered," Leon said. "But a little extra hand every now and then is appreciated."

"Why is Hollow Bastion so messed up?" Xion asked.

"Maleficent," Leon said.

"She's still around?" Kairi asked.

"Somewhere," Yuffie muttered.

"Sorry," Kairi said. "Once she's gone, things should improve."

"Good to know," Cid said, saluting them.

"See you around!" Namine said.

Everyone waved and then Kairi activated the star shard.

"Nothin's ever boring around here," Tifa said.

"Nope," Yuffie and Leon agreed. Yuffie frowned at that.

"Shall I get a bed ready for you?" Aerith asked.

Tifa laughed. "I think I can do that myself."

"But, you're a guest."

Tifa rolled her eyes. "I've known you for how long Aerith? Besides, you need sleep. When was the last time you slept?"

Aerith didn't have a response.

"Exactly. You, go, sleep."

Aerith laughed and excused herself from the table.

"Thank you," Leon and Cid both mouthed.

Tifa nodded.

xx

"So, now for the big question," Kairi said as they made their way up to their houses. "Do we tell the others?"

"I'm probably going to tell Riku," Namine said. "Mostly because he'd be interested to know the whereabouts of his replica. And we promised we'd tell each other everything."

"I'm afraid Sora will freak out. I mean, he did get a little upset just when Joseph was speaking about thing ambiguously."

"You should still tell him," Xion said. "We should let them know about why our universe is connected to their universe and why. Plus, if we tell them now, it'll save explanation later. Since we're bound to run into them again."

Kairi nodded, agreeing with Xion's logic. "That settles that then. We'll tell them."

"Tell us what?" Riku asked, suddenly behind them.

"Don't _do _that!" Kairi seethed.

"Hi!" Namine said.

"Hello," he responded, smiling.

"Tell us what?" Roxas asked, joining them. "Does it have anything to do with you being gone for like, a whole day."

"We weren't gone that long, were we?" Namine asked.

"I feel like girls could shop forever," Sora said.

"Time passes differently in different worlds, does it not?" Kairi asked. "Could not the same apply for other universes?"

"Say what?"


	43. Axel's in the Wrong Place

**Author's Note: **YUSS! We have gotten this far! Woohoo! The best part is, WE ARE ON SCHEDULE! FOR BOTH UNIVERSES! This is happening at the same time as the chapter rar just posted, and just after the chapter I just posted. (At the same time as the chapter I plan to have up later this week.) WOO! Kay, enjoy the chapter now.

* * *

><p>"Well, let's see how this works," Axel said, fingering the star shard in his hands. "Take me to where Kuin is."<p>

The star shard activated.

Axel found himself in The World that Never Was. He frowned.

"Okay, I _seriously _doubt…"

"Axel, what are you doing here? I thought you were sent out on recon!"

Axel blanched at the Vexen Replica. (Well, he _figured _it was a Vexen Replica. Generally speaking, the Replicas were more polite than the original Vexen.)

He stood there, dumbfounded for a couple of seconds, trying to gather what the heck was going on.

Why was there a Vexen Replica in The World that Never Was? Why was _he _expected to be doing recon? This was back like the days at the…

Parallel universe. He was in that effing parallel universe that Xion had mentioned.

"Just got back," he said, off-handedly.

This seemed to satisfy the Vexen Replica (whose number just so happened to be Number 5). He walked away, satisfied with that answer.

"Assuming this is the same universe, then me and the other Axel aren't _that _much different. He's probably a traitor, too."

He snorted.

"I start analyzing things like those Vexen Replicas the minute I start being around too many of them. _And _I start talking to myself. Fan-freaking-tastic."

Axel decided that he would much rather be anywhere else but here. However, he wasn't exactly sure _how _the heck he was supposed to get back to _his _universe.

"It _really _bothers me how many privileges that L gets," Larxene Q (though Axel didn't know that) muttered.

"It's only because she went and got close to that gross 37!" another Larxene (Larxene H) replied.

"I don't know what she sees in him! All of the Vexens are _so _weird! And like… just… _ew_!"

"And to think that he actually likes her back!"

A Marluxia Replica (well, Axel figured that he was a Replica, everyone else here was) walked up to the pair of Larxenes.

"You do know that if either of them hears you talking about them like this, they _will _Rewrite you. Since Disabling isn't an option anymore."

Larxene H snuck her hand around his waist. "Oh, Bloodroot, you _know _we don't mean any harm by it!"

He kissed her forehead.

Axel puked a little on the inside. He then decided that they _had _to be Replicas. Because Nobodies didn't do crap like that.

"Axel!" Larxene Q said, looking at him.

Axel cursed internally. He was hoping to have left before anyone noticed him.

"Yes?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and hoping he sounded bored enough.

"Saix wanted you to report to his office as soon as you got back from recon!"

"Since when do I have to take orders from you?" he repeated, his voice sounding rather whiny in an imitation of her.

She looked taken aback.

He hoped that he hadn't just done something that the Axel from _this _universe would have done. That was the _last _thing he wanted to do, get a fellow Axel in trouble.

However, given the glare that the Larxene Replica was giving him, he figured this was merely normal.

He just about activated the star shard right then and there, just to freak them out. But he figured that _probably _wouldn't be something that this Axel would do. As much as Riku and Namine were going to kill him for this…

He stuck an arm out beside him and formed a dark corridor to his bedroom.

"Walking never was quick enough for you," Bloodroot muttered as Axel walked through.

Axel had been hoping that he would have shown up in his own room. Unfortunately, given the fact that this room had a dart board still on the wall, he had to assume that he was still in the other universe. In the other Axel's room.

"Well, this is odd."

"You're telling me."

Axel turned around to find himself face-to-face with, well, himself.

"Don't _tell _me they stole enough of my data to make a replica of me! I _told _Vexen…"

Axel threw up his hands in defense. "I'm no replica. Trust me. I'm not even a Nobody."

"You lost me."

"I'm from a parallel universe."

"You're joking."

"Yeah, I wish I was. I don't really understand much of it either. All I know is that the universe that I'm from and this universe are connected because of someone screwing around. My star shard decided that now would be an excellent time to come over here. Now I've gotta figure out how to get back."

"So, you're not some joke that Saix is playing on me?"

"Absolutely not."

The other Axel got a very maniacal grin on his face. He cracked his knuckles and flopped down on his bed behind him.

"Well, while you're here, why don't you say we have a little bit of fun?"

"Well, I _was _thinking about setting one of those Larxene Replicas on fire…"

"Which ones?"

"I don't know. There were two of them, and they were gossiping. Then a Marluxia Replica walked up and…"

"Oh, you can stop there. I don't want to hear it. You're talking about Q and H. H is the one with the… boyfriend."

"Man, I really feel for you."

"I get my revenge," the other Axel said, shrugging. "I have good fun."

"So, what do you propose we do?" Axel said, leaning casually against the wall.

"Well, currently right now there happens to be a small group of replicas breaking into Saix's computer room."

Axel raised his eyebrows.

"They're the Rebellion. They're hoping to lock Saix out so that he can stop Rewriting them at every turn of the chakram."

"And where do _you _stand on all of this?"

"Well, officially, I _have _to be against them. However, I'm all for them usurping Saix off of his high-horse. The power he got with the Replica Program went to his head."

Axel grimaced.

"Saix _hates _Replicas."

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know. And it's not like he even does anything! He just sends 37 and L to do most of his dirty work. Putting _them _together was a _very _bad idea."

Axel remembered the other two Larxene Replicas talking about L and 37. He decided he didn't want to know.

He snorted. "How so like Saix."

"What's Saix doing in your universe?"

"Oh, he's dead."

The other Axel blanched. His nose twitched. His eyebrows twitched. He coughed.

"Well then."

"Yeah, the darkness got to him."

"As a Nobody?"

"As a Somebody. I'm warning you now, _don't _get on Sora's bad side."

"Nah, here it's don't get on Riku's bad side."

"I've gotta ask. Roxas?"

"Replica. Mistake by Saix's standards. Think about it."

Axel growled.

"Yeah. I yelled at him for that one. I'm probably going to yell at him again."

"I wish you the best of luck with getting through his thick skull."

"Thanks. I'm hoping that this little incursion into Saix's computer will be enough of a blow. I'm the one that got them the darn key!"

Axel laughed. "Nice one, man."

He shrugged. "I like Joseph. He's a funny kid. Pity Saix had to go and scare 29 to the Rebellion's side. I liked having him around."

"I think I've met Joseph."

"Oh really now?"

"Yeah, he showed up in our Twilight Town. Bought me and my friends ice cream."

"That's Joseph, all right."

Axel was about to respond when he was interrupted by the sound of one of the Larxene Replica's shrieks.

"It's one of those stupid kids! Get him out of here! Get him out of here!"

The other Axel hauled himself off of his bed. "Speaking of the little devil. That's Joseph. He's the only kid still around." He shook his head. "The way she's screaming, you'd think she was talking about a cockroach."

The two Axel's stuck their heads out of the door and they looked down the hallway. Joseph was parading up the hallway with a wooden sword on his shoulder. No one else was around at the moment. They were probably all still in the Grey Area.

"Oh, don't mind me," he called. "I'm only creating a distraction."

"Joseph!" the other Axel hissed. "Do you _want _them to know that you're a distraction?"

Joseph looked over at the two of them.

"Hi!" he said. "Nah, it doesn't really matter. The one person whose name I can't mention here for reasons just said that I need to make a whole bunch of noise. I haven't even _gotten _to the chandelier yet!"

"The giant one in the Grey Area?" Axel asked.

"Yup! That's the one!"

Axel gave the kid a thumbs up.

"Hey!" someone else said. "Since when are there two of you!"

It was Xigbar. Or, well, someone that looked like Xigbar. Axel would not have been surprised if there were replicas of him too.

"Don't worry about it," the other Axel said. "Or, rather, shouldn't you be worrying about whatever it is Larxene H is screaming her head off about."

"How _do _you tell them apart?" Xigbar asked. "I'm a replica same as they are and I have no clue."

"Each Larxene has a different level of _annoying_. Or, maybe it just helps that I spent enough time with the real one." He shrugged.

"So, since when do _you _have a clone? I thought I was special!"

Axel wasn't sure if he could trust this Xigbar Replica. Himself, he could tell about parallel universes and whatnot. Xigbar… well, he never had trusted Xigbar. Replica of one or not.

"Oh, he's my friend," Joseph said. "I bought him ice cream once. And I _never _forget the people I buy ice cream for!"

This seemed to be enough to satisfy the Xigbar Replica. He pulled out his guns and started going to the Grey Area.

"Sure, so he walks _towards _the screaming Larxenes," the other Axel muttered.

"I should to back out there," Joseph mused. "I was causing _way _more of a distraction there."

"You go do that," Axel said.

Joseph marched off.

Axel took one look at his doppelganger. They exchanged a curt nod, then each of them pulled their hoods up.

"So, can you tell the difference of people in their cloaks?" Axel asked.

"Can you?"

He nodded.

"Must be an Axel thing." He tapped his forehead. "Got it memorized?"

They both laughed and made their way after Xigbar's Clone and Joseph.


	44. Stolen Data

**Author's Note: **So this runs parallel with what rar just posted. Well, sort of. More or less. I forget where exactly the cutoff is. Enjoy the double-whammy of Axel!

* * *

><p>And they both promptly burst out laughing when they saw Joseph dangling from the chandelier. There was also a Vexen Replica (Number 5 again) who was yelling at him to get down.<p>

"I don't have to listen to you! You big ol' meanie! You let Saix destroy Patrick! Patrick only had a cold!"

"Replicas shouldn't get sick!"

Joseph let go of the banister, pulling off a backflip in midair. He landed on the table and stuck his tongue out at 5.

Axel resisted the urge to applaud.

"_You've _never been around kids then!" Joseph said.

And he ran off, farther into the Castle. Well, he started to anyways. He stopped himself mid-run. He backpedaled and turned around.

"I forgot the WINNER sticks!" he shouted.

He started running back off toward the Hallway of Bedrooms. Somehow, he managed to dodge every Vexen, Larxene, and Marluxia Replica that dove for him. Xigbar's Clone had situated himself on one of the couches and was thoroughly enjoying the whole show.

Axel and the other Axel just watched the kid go.

About three Larxenes and two Vexens tore after him.

"Should we help the kid?" Axel asked.

The other Axel shrugged.

However, before either of them had a chance to run after him, a few laser bullets hit the ground behind the angry replicas.

The two Vexens stopped short. The Larxenes took a bit, but they got the message too.

"Leave the poor kid alone," Xigbar's Clone declared. "I like him. Let him get his WINNER sticks."

"But he's a mistake!" Larxene S shrieked. "And mistakes should be destroyed! Just like that…"

Q put a hand around S's mouth.

"Do you _want _Riku to show up and slit your throat?" she hissed.

S bit her hand, which quickly turned into them pulling each other's hair and scratching each other. Xigbar's Clone rolled his eyes and shot off a laser bullet into the fray. It hit Q in the foot.

"Oi! Watch it!" she shouted.

"Don't go hurting each other. Though it's amusing for the rest of us to watch…"

"It's not like Riku can even hear us," S whined.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Joseph muttered, shoving a whole bunch of WINNER sticks in his pockets as he walked out of his old room.

"What do you mean?" Q asked, suspiciously.

"Riku _always _knows when you're talking about Namine. Always."

"Remember G and N?" H hissed. "Riku appeared out of _nowhere_and killed them both!"

Joseph snorted.

"You know anything about that, kid?" Xigbar's Clone asked.

"Nope," Joseph said, tossing a WINNER stick up in the air. "But it certainly sounds like something Riku would do. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be. Catch me if you can!"

He pulled a star shard out of his pocket and activated it.

"We should follow him!" H said.

"And where do you suppose he went?" 5 asked, glaring at her. "He had a star shard, he could have gone anywhere."

"He's still in the Castle," 31 said.

"How do you know?" S asked, sneering at him.

"Star shards make different sound when they go-off world as opposed to staying in-world. He's still in the Castle somewhere."

"How do you even _know _that?" Q asked.

"Does it matter?" H asked, sounding very bored. Though, this might be because she was putting up a different demeanor now that Bloodroot had shown up.

"We're forgetting the part where we have an experiment child running around in the Castle," Bloodroot said. "He's going to start causing problems any minute now."

One of the doors burst open and 37 ran out.

"Someone's broken into the Computer Room!" he shouted.

No one seemed to react for a moment.

"Wait, you sleep?" Xigbar's Clone asked.

No one answered him.

"I thought L did that all the time," H said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I gave her privileges," 37 muttered.

Every single Larxene and Vexen (aside from 37 himself) grimaced. Even Bloodroot and Xigbar's Clone frowned a little.

H even went as far to make puking noises. 37 pointedly ignored her.

When no one else made a move to go save the computer, 37 cursed and tore off.

"Who wants to follow him?" Bloodroot asked.

Xigbar's Clone shrugged. "I'll go. But not because I'm helping 37, but because this might be fun. I've been wondering how well Riku can stand up to my guns."

He disappeared.

"Riku's here?" S asked, her face going white.

"Well, if someone's raiding the castle, wouldn't you _assume _it's Riku?" the other Axel asked. "I mean, he is leading the Rebellion, isn't he?"

"Axel, why do you have your hood up?" Q asked.

"Does it really matter to you?" he replied.

"Wait a second, who are you?" S asked, pointing to Axel.

Keeping his cool, Axel calmly backed into a dark corridor.

"Something is amiss here," Luxord said.

Everyone turned to look at him. He was sitting on one of the couches, calmly shuffling a deck of cards.

"How long have _you _been there?" Bloodroot asked.

"That doesn't matter!" H hissed. "We have an intruder here! What if that was Riku?"

"If it was Riku, S'd be dead," Q said.

"Well, it was surely someone from _their _side!" H said.

"Well, we can already figure that it was someone from their side," the other Axel said, taking down his hood. "I mean, 37 _did _say that the Computer Room had been breached."

"You seem to know a lot about this, Axel," Bloodroot accused.

"Half of my recon missions are to keep an eye on the Rebellion," Axel spat back. "It's my _job_."

Bloodroot turned up his nose, still suspicious.

Larxene L burst out of another bedroom.

"I'm coming, sweetie!" she spoke into a walkie talkie. She paused a moment to glare at all of those in the Grey Area. "I don't see any of _you _helping!" she spat.

"37 has _you_, though!" Q said, her voice sickly sweet. "Go help him."

L disappeared into a dark corridor.

"I'm going to go see if I can wrangle the kid," Axel said. "He might just listen to me before he causes any trouble. I heard him muttering something about crashing a chandelier."

"What, this chandelier?" Bloodroot asked, pointing to the one above them.

"Yeah, so you stay here in case he comes back. I'll try to head him off. Since that sounds _so _much more preferable to Riku's blade in my gut."

With that, Axel disappeared into a dark corridor.

"Thought you might show up here," the other Axel said to his doppelganger.

"Well," he replied, reclining back on the bed. "I can't seem to figure out how to get to my own universe. And this seemed like the safest place, since _we're _the only two who can form a dark corridor here."

"Twilight Town's pretty quiet; provided Joseph's not there, since 37 has it rigged so that as soon as Joseph goes anywhere outside of Castle Oblivion, Berserkers start trying to capture him."

"Why does 37 need Joseph?"

"37 doesn't. Saix does."

"Why?"

The other Axel shrugged. "How should I know? It's Saix we're talking about."

"Do you want to go see what the boy's up to?" Axel asked. "I thought I heard you say something about wrangling him."

"Yeah, well, that involves finding him. Joseph knows this place better than any of us."

"I _think _I can cheat," Axel said. "My star shard's pretty good about taking me to where other people are. Except this last time when I showed up here. But, you know, I'm three for four right now."

"All right, let's see how this works."

Axel grabbed onto the other Axel's arm and activated the star shard.

They appeared in one of the many white and grey hallways of the Castle that Never Was.

"Yes, this worked _real _well," the other Axel said, raising an eyebrow.

"Wait for it!" Axel said, holding up a hand.

The sound of little footsteps pounding down the hallways filled the air. From around the corner, not one, but _two _boys ran. They hit the two Axels full-force. Joseph only reeled a little, holding his head a tad. Axel hadn't suffered much. He'd had worse things through his gut.

The other boy, however, hit the other Axel and went flying backwards. Instinctively, the other Axel went over and helped the kid up.

"There's another one?" he asked, flabbergasted. "I thought Saix…"

"Saix couldn't kill me, Sir," the boy said quietly. "He said I looked too much like you."

"Vexen _did _get my data!" the other Axel growled.

For sure enough, the boy had flaming red hair; though he had blue eyes—more like Zexion or Marluxia.

"What's your name, kid?" the other Axel asked.

"Toby, sir. I didn't know you had a replica."

"I'm not a replica," Axel said.

Just as he said this, Joseph added, "He's from a parallel universe!"

Toby's eyes went wide.

"I'll explain later," Joseph said, his voice positively brimming with excitement. "First we've gotta get that chandelier! It's on my bucket list!"

"Do you even know what a bucket list is?" Axel asked.

"Nope, but I heard Vexen use it once," Joseph replied with a shrug. He turned to Toby. "Come on!"

"Wait just a second," the other Axel said. "You're running into a horde of Larxenes!"

"We can take 'em!" Joseph said. "19 is still gonna need a distraction."

"What about Toby?" Axel asked.

"He's going to help me with the chandelier. And then, I'm taking him to Castle Oblivion. Because, he shouldn't have to stay cooped up here."

Joseph beckoned to Toby and the two of them took off again.

"The star shard will be faster!" Axel called out.

"Oh! Good idea!" Joseph grabbed Toby's hand and activated the star shard. The two boys disappeared.

The other Axel massaged his temples. "I can only hope they get out of there all right," he said. "I feel oddly responsible for the kid—kids!"

"I think we all do," Axel replied, scratching his neck. "I'm also oddly flattered that Saix wouldn't kill Toby because he looks like you. And me, I suppose."

"I can't believe I didn't know about it!" the other Axel replied. "I mean, I know Saix and I don't share life stories, but, _this_, come on!"  
>Axel raised an eyebrow. "This is Saix we're talking about."<p>

"He killed all the kids, except Joseph…"

"And if he couldn't kill Toby because of phantom emotions, would he admit that to anyone?"

"Ah, no. No, he wouldn't."

"Precisely."

"You know, I bet that's why he wanted Joseph. He only wanted Joseph dead because Joseph was a nuisance. If he was trying to get Toby a friend, he could _easily _rewrite Joseph to be a complacent little… Wow, Saix, that's low if that's what you were going for."

"Is it, though?" Axel asked.

"Rewriting Joseph? Of _course _that's low. I mean, everyone except him likes the kid."

"The Larxene Replicas…"

"They don't count because they're Larxene."

"Valid."

"The only thing worse he could do would be to Rewrite Namine. Because, well, that's just, cruelty at that point. Cruelty to Riku."

"You don't have to tell me. Even though they're both Somebodies in my universe, you don't even have to go there."

The other Axel snorted.

"So, should we go keep an eye on Joseph and Toby?" Axel asked, jerking a thumb in the direction the two boys had been running before Joseph had used the star shard.

"We're now risking my cover," the other Axel replied, frowning.

"Oh, good luck with that."

"How'd it work out for you?"

"Well, I'm the only one who made it out of Castle Oblivion alive."

"Same. Well, no one's seen Lexaeus, but, what can you do?"

Axel snorted. "Well, after Castle Oblivion, I just kept up appearances until I refused to either bring Roxas back to the Organization or kill him."

The other Axel's mouth dropped. "You were ordered to kill him?"

Axel shrugged. "More or less."

"Harsh."

"Tell me about it."

The other Axel thought for a minute. "I want to say that Luxord would make sure the kids lived."

"Still thinking about that, eh?"

"Losing Roxas, and Xion… makes you look out for the little ones all the more."

Axel patted the other Axel's shoulder.

"I wish you luck with Saix. It sounds like the two of you have more bad blood than me and my old friend. I can't promise you anything on how it turns out. But, if you both come back in the next life, try and make amends."

"Next life?"

"Sora killed Saix, I sacrificed myself for Roxas. We both came back as Somebodies. Unfortunately, by the time I finally got through his head, the darkness was too much."

The other Axel nodded. "I think I'm going to go make sure Joseph and Toby live. Just in case one of the Larxenes decides…"

"Go," Axel urged. "I'm gonna try and get back to my own universe now. I've had my fun."

The other Axel saluted.

"If you can, light a Larxene's cloak on fire for me."

"I will if I can make it look like an accident."

"I think you're the king of making things look like accidents. Provided you're anything like me," Axel replied, saluting back.

The other Axel nodded and formed a dark corridor.

Axel pulled out his star shard.

"Wait until I tell the others."

He pulled his hood back up and activated the star shard. Per his intention, he arrived in the Grey Area just in time to see Joseph and Toby pull the chandelier—right down on S's head. Axel snorted and activated the star shard once more to arrive in his own universe. It worked, for he found himself standing right behind Kairi, who was re-bandaging Sora's hand. Yup. Right place.


	45. Where is this?

**Author's Note: **Nope, I'm not dead. And I'm still technically on hiatus for Betwixt and Between. This is just a crossover promised to all of you. It lines up right after what I had posted a week or two ago, and with what rar's posting now. Ish. Close enough.

I admit, it's like, half the size of the usual stuff, but this is also going to be four chapters worth of crossover... so be happy with a little teaser crossover now! Twill be fun! Expect more in the coming days.

EDIT! I fixed the lack of italics issue. Somewhere in my document, things got messed up and the italics just didn't transfer over. Sorry about that guys.

* * *

><p>"Well, we're off to hunt Nobodies," Sora said, linking arms with Roxas.<p>

"Have fun!" Xion told them, giving a little wave.

"Where will you go?" Riku asked.

"Well, we're going to start in the Underworld," Sora said. "Since Kairi said Hades has got some control over the Dusks. Maybe we can get rid of the ones that listen to him."

"Either way, we're going to kill Nobodies," Roxas said. "Best way to make Final Form stronger."

Sora nodded.

"Be careful," Kairi said. She turned to Roxas. "Make sure he Cures."

Roxas laughed. "Like I would let him die out there!"

Kairi rolled her eyes.

Before Sora could take any more patronizing, he activated the star shard. He and Roxas both disappeared.

"Will you two be doing something?" Namine asked, looking at Kairi and Xion.

"We were thinking about going to Twilight Town to just practice," Xion said. "Heartless are generally easy kills there, but if something bigger shows up, we could use a challenge. Kairi's got a new spell, I've been working on a new finisher…"

"Do you want to come?" Kairi asked. "You've got Holy to practice, too."

Namine shrugged. "I don't know…"

Riku leaned in to whisper in Namine's ear.

"How about you and I go somewhere and practice," he said. "Just you and me. We haven't done anything together like that in a few days."

Namine grinned. "How about we do that?" she said, looking up at him. The two of them locked eyes, neither of them looking away from each other.

Kairi and Xion rolled their eyes.

"You two have fun, now," Xion said.

Riku and Namine just nodded, still looking in the general direction of each other.

Kairi activated the star shard between her and Xion, they disappeared like Sora and Riku had. The Island was quiet.

"Now, where's Axel," Riku said, looking over his shoulder. "It would be just like him to show up and ruin the moment."

Namine laughed. "He went chasing after Kuin again. Well, I think so. The image I drew this morning showed them in Traverse Town, but the picture I drew after that had just Kuin in Disney Castle. I feel like that one may be farther in the future, because I don't think Kuin has any reason to go to Disney Castle."

Riku shrugged. "I'd like to meet this Kuin girl."

"Wouldn't we all?" Namine said.

"Well, where should we go?" Riku asked. "To change the subject."

Namine shrugged. "I don't know."

Riku poked her in the arm. "You mean to tell me that you haven't drawn us already doing something today?"

She shook her head. "It doesn't work like that."

Riku laughed. "You'll have to tell me how that does work, sometime."

She nodded. "Okay."

He didn't press for her to tell him right then, she didn't feel like explaining it. Not yet, anyway. She still had to figure out exactly how it worked for herself. It just… did.

"Hmm," Riku said, pondering. "Hollow Bastion typically has a lot of Heartless."

Namine nodded.

"Aerith, Rinoa and Quistis are away on that meeting," he continued. "So they're down three fighters."

Namine nodded once more. "Are you suggesting we go to Hollow Bastion?" she said.

"Sure, why not?" Riku said. "You've got that spell to practice, anyway."

He flashed her a grin. She smiled back.

He pulled out the star shard. "Ready?"

She grabbed his hand. "Of course!"

He looked down at their now-intertwined hands and couldn't help but smile. His cheeks flushed red just a tad.

"Let's go," she whispered.

He activated the star shard.

"Something's not right," Riku muttered as soon as they had landed. He sniffed the air, trying to figure out _what _exactly it was that wasn't right.

Namine started probing the area as well. She had a general clue of what memories she should be able to pick up. Just, familiar memories, things that she recognized—people that she recognized.

She was oddly surprised to pick up on some of _Aerith's _memories. To the best of her knowledge, Aerith should not have been there. Not in the slightest. However, these didn't look like the memories of the Aerith she knew. These ones definitely had the Aerith-feel, but they were more frantic, somehow.

There were a lot of things breaking. Glasses, dishes, a lonely chair in the corner… (she'd seen that chair before)… blood and rain… (she'd seen those too…)

Almost frantically, she pushed out further, trying to see if she could pick up any other tell-tale memories. She had a feeling she knew where she was. But why were…

Leon. Easy enough. However, he wasn't calm or happy like… He was _angry_. Something had _bothered _him.

Rinoa, trapped up in a glass case… a possessed Rinoa… a dead-looking Rinoa… whiteness…

She hadn't seen any of those before. This was new. She pushed again, trying to find someone else. She had a pretty good idea of where…

Tifa. She was sad. She was worried. She was angry.

Two images: one of Cloud lying almost-lifeless-looking on the ground at Olympus Coliseum, a mangle of darkness hovering above him; (she knew what that darkness was, she just couldn't focus on it…) the second one of Cloud crumpled on the ground, covered in about as much blood as Sephiroth hovered above him…

Namine pushed just a tad farther…

Shatter.

Shatter.

Shatter.

_Her _shattering _him. _But it was in third person…

_Him _being shattered by _her._

_ Someone else _watching _him _being…

Shatter.

Metallic-like sounds.

Crumple.

Tears.

Like a broken record… she was caught up in those images.

"Found it!" Riku growled, breaking her out of her thoughts.

The next thing she knew, they were hurdling down the streets. Up walls and through pathways. It was all she could do to not trip and keep up. But the memories were still there in her head.

Shatter.

Shatter.

Shatter.

A promise.

Sora's Shadow.

Parallel universe.

Shatter.

"That bas—" she began.

"…you still have feelings for that bi—"

"What is going on here?" Riku demanded.


	46. Black Power

**Author's Note: **Tis the next installment everybody! Woohoo! This chapter's a normal length too! In this chapter, Shad's a horrible, lying, conceited, manipulative... well, why don't I just let you read it?

Oh, and glad to know that you take that as a compliment, Shad.

EDIT: I fixed the italics. Now things should make more sense. Sorry about that, I didn't even notice...

* * *

><p>"Dammit, Cid, why'd you have to go and break my concentration?" Sora's Shadow muttered, angrily, completely ignoring them. "I was on a roll there! A <em>roll!<em>" He made a couple incomprehensible noises, clenching his hands into fists. "Damn you…" he said, and _then_ rounded on them. "No, actually, it's _you_ I should be mad at! I would've been _fine,_ if it had only been Cid, I could've _recovered._ But, no, you had to go and screw everything up!" He groaned. "Not like it really matters _whose_ fault it was, I've _completely_lost control of Sora now!"

He glanced between the two of them a few times, noticing the rather _pissed_ look on the Memory Witch's face. Plus, she was radiating a lot of anger, too. It really was a good thing that she wasn't incredibly bright.

As in, full of light, that is.

Riku, the other Riku, the- Sora's Shadow frowned at him for a second. He'd eventually get confused if he only called him Riku or some small variation of it. He took a second to pick "Riku's" memories, hoping to find some embarrassing nickname or something. He found something shortly, though it wasn't embarrassing…

Real Thing.

He'd have to stick with it, because he didn't have enough time to find something else.

So, the Memory Witch looked rather pissed, and Real Thing looked confused and angry. He wasn't entirely sure if the anger was directly caused by him, or if it was merely a side-effect of the confusion.

Why was it that every Riku had such complex emotions?

He grimaced, then, realizing something else.

"You, uh, didn't happen to hear all of that, did you?" he asked.

"That _depends_," the Memory Witch spat. "Did you just call me a-"

He laughed. "Well, _that_ depends. Did you just call me a-"

Real Thing summoned his blade, obviously not wanting to bother with the banter. "Take that back!" he shouted.

Sora's Shadow raised his eyebrows. "Well, _that_ explains a lot," he mused. "And here I was thinking it was just him…" He turned to the Memory Witch. "How many guys is that that you have-"

"Take. That. Back," Real Thing repeated. His voice had almost a growl to it.

Sora's Shadow frowned, then swallowed the rest of what he was going to say to the Memory Witch. He didn't really like the look she was giving him, plus, if he kept going he would probably make her really upset, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with Real Thing afterwards.

He returned his attention to Real Thing, and shrugged lazily.

"Make me," he dared.

Real Thing looked a bit taken aback by that, but his anger quickly overrode it.

Sora's Shadow laughed.

"Oh wait! You _can't!_" He grinned.

Real Thing growled. Legitimately growled.

Sora's Shadow raised his hands in defeat. "Okay, okay! I take it back, sheesh." He rolled his eyes. It's not like it _really_ mattered. "Isn't worth getting my head chopped off for anyway," he muttered, then smirked. "Might want to watch your darkness though, Real Thing."

Real Thing blinked a few times in shock.

"What?" he asked. "Where'd you hear that?"

Sora's Shadow grinned and tapped his head. "I'm just like her," he said, nodding at the Memory Witch. "I can read your memories. Or, well, _most_ of them." He shrugged. "It's definitely _a lot_ of them."

Real Thing's brow furrowed in confusion.

"He can only see dark memories," the Memory Witch explained to him. She might have said more after that, but Sora's Shadow stopped listening. Something else had caught his attention.

"Wait! Shh!" he commanded, holding up a finger to silence them. "Shh just a sec!"

"Why should-"

"Shh!"

He concentrated on listening, glad that Sora hadn't cut off connection with him. He wouldn't have wanted to miss this. "Is he… crying?" he said, slowly, uncertainly. He listened harder. Sure enough, it _sounded _like Riku was crying. "Did I make him cry!" He laughed, then, feeling rather accomplished. "I made him cry!"

"Made who cry?" Real Thing asked.

"Your Replica…" the Memory Witch mumbled.

Real Thing made a face that was something between confusion and shock.

"He's… crying?"

Sora's Shadow laughed. "I know! So unlike you, isn't it, Real Thing?"

Real Thing growled.

"What did you do to him!" the Memory Witch demanded. Sora's Shadow laughed slightly, as she was throwing a _lot_ of anger at him. Pity she was from another universe and her anger didn't affect him…

"Whoa, whoa," he said, holding up his hands. "Calm down there, Witch!"

"Take _that_ back, too!" Real Thing said. There was a rather 'no-nonsense' tone to his voice, but Sora's Shadow ignored him.

"Remember what I said _last_ time about you being the reason he's so messed up?" he asked the Memory Witch, and then laughed. "Yeah, it's about ten times worse than I originally thought it was." He grinned.

They glared at him.

He ignored them.

He wanted the Memory Witch to _feel_ how much she had hurt Riku. She already had a vague idea of it, but if she truly _knew_-

He pulled a bit of darkness towards him, prepared to use it. Then he noticed the look Real Thing was giving him. He frowned.

_Great, he can smell darkness, can't he?_

_Dammit._

_There goes THAT idea…_

He let go of the darkness, and then smirked.

_Whatever, I don't need the darkness. I can do enough damage with words alone._

"Because of what _you_did to him," he said, acting as if he had never paused in the rant. "He now holds the world at an arms-length, not caring about anyone only because he doesn't think they care about him." He chuckled slightly. "Because he's so used to being an _afterthought_."

The Memory Witch might have winced at that.

He chose to believe she did, just because it made him feel better.

"And he's come to expect nothing more from the world," he continued. "So whenever anything more _is _given to him-" He laughed. "He can't handle it. He can't handle being _loved_!"

The look on her face was priceless, and the guilt he was getting from her was even better. Real Thing looked pretty pissed now, but he was too busy enjoying her pain to notice.

"And it's all _your_ fault," he said, grinning. "You screwed him up! Not just because of what you did to him mentally, with his memories and everything, but because of what you did to him emotionally-"

"Cut it out!" Real Thing shouted.

Sora's Shadow pushed back all possible shock he had towards that and instead laughed, knowing it only make him even _more_ pissed. It really was a shame they were from a different universe…

"My, my," he said, throwing a look at the Memory Witch. "Doesn't _that_ sound familiar?" He turned back to Real Thing. "Though, why do _you_ care? From the sounds of things, you didn't-" He slowly stopped, realizing something.

He might be restricted to only seeing dark memories, and only picking up thoughts when they were strong enough, but he could feel _anyone's_ emotions, no problem.

And right now, he could feel a rather surprising emotion coming from Real Thing.

Love.

Real Thing loved the Memory Witch.

Or at least, that's Sora's Shadow assumed.

"Well then!" he laughed, and then turned to the Memory Witch. "Looks like you had _another_ boy fall for you. What'd you do to this one?"

"_She_didn't do anything!" Real Thing snapped. "I love her of my own free will!"

Sora's Shadow raised his eyebrows. "Ain't that a shocker?" he said, and grinned. "I wonder what your Replica would do if he knew. Oh wait, I don't need to wonder! I know _exactly_ what he'd do!"

"What would he do?" Real Thing asked.

"Oh, he'd be absolutely pissed for starters. Then he might try to kill you." He looked over at the Memory Witch, who was grimacing at the thought. "See? Even she knows it!"

"He's changed," she said, firmly, but her firmness quickly fell into uncertainty. She didn't actually _know _whether or not he was any different than he had been all that time ago. She certainly seemed to _hope_ that he was.

"Well, let's find out," Sora's Shadow said. He thought about what he was going to say for a second. "Hmm… Real Thing loves the Memory Witch," he muttered, his voice slowly gaining the sing-song tone he had used earlier. He grinned. "Real Thing loves the Memory Witch." He repeated, much firmer.

Satisfied, he clenched his hand into a fist, calling to the darkness inside of Sora. It reacted typically, rearing up, ready to be-

It was pulled away from him.

"_Cut it out!"_ Sora yelled.

His Shadow flexed his fingers, a tad shocked. "Damn, Sora!" he exclaimed, amazed and yet terribly annoyed. "When did you figure out how to fight back!"

"How's that working out for you?" the Memory Witch asked, sounding rather amused now. Real Thing snorted.

"Oh, you be quiet!" he muttered.

"_I'm tired of you doing this to me!"_Sora said, before he could say anything more to the Memory Witch and Real Thing. "_It was annoying when it was Cloud, it was just plain MEAN_ _to Aerith, you were downright RUDE to Tifa, and I don't even KNOW how I feel about what you did to Leon. Now you've made Riku cry. Riku! CRY! I'm not going to let you get away with this anymore!_"

He rolled his eyes.

"Oh please! You weren't even aware I was doing it!"

"_Well, I'm aware of it now, and I'm not letting you do it again!_"

Oh of course.

_Of course_ Sora had to go and get determined right when he _really_ wanted to use him. He swore and pounded his fist against the ground in annoyance. "_I'm not letting you get away with it again,_" he repeated in an extremely mocking tone. Sora only returned it with annoyance.

The Memory Witch laughed. He glared at her.

"What?"

"You do realize that we can only hear half of this conversation, right?" she replied.

"Sounds like Sora's not being cooperative, though," Real Thing said. He was smirking.

Sora's Shadow didn't like it.

"It's none of _your_ business," he spat. "And if me talking to Sora out loud bothers you, then suck it up!"

"_Are you… talking to someone?"_Sora asked, confused as always.

"No, I'm talking to myself," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Of course I'm talking to someone, idiot! Can't you hear them? I can hear everyone on _your_ end!"

Sora started to reply, but he didn't give him the chance.

"Listen, Sora, could you do me a-"

"_No._"

He made a face.

"I just need you to tell Riku-"

"_Haven't you bothered Riku enough?_" Sora interrupted, and he got the sense that he was glaring. Plus, he could feel a lot of annoyance building up inside of Sora.

Maybe just enough to-

A very sharp pain shot through his head, and he swore, before angrily turning to the Memory Witch. She had quite the glare on her face and a rather large amount of anger burning in her.

"Stop it!" she warned. "I'm sure he's upset enough already, we don't have to-"

"Could you _stop!_" he hissed through clench teeth, trying to avoid clutching his head. It hurt so much that he could hardly see straight, let alone even _think_ properly. To make things worse, the pain doubled as Sora caught drift of it.

"Will you leave this Riku-" she began.

"No, seriously! You're hurting Sora!" he gasped, frantically.

The pain stopped immediately. He had to bite his tongue to prevent himself from sighing in relief.

"You weren't just lying to make her stop, were you?" Real Thing asked.

He angrily shook his head, though he regretted doing so afterwards. It hurt. "No! I mean it!" he said, bitterly. "I mean, seriously, they're all crowding around Sora right now to make sure he's okay. Aerith's worried, Yuffie's confused, no surprise, Riku's not paying attention, which is lucky for you, and Tifa- Dammit!" He pounded his fist against the ground again. It actually kind of hurt this time. "She just told Sora to cut off connection with me, and he listened." He clenched his hands into fists. "One of these days, Tifa, you are going to _regret_ getting in my way…" he muttered.


	47. False Memories and Real Feelings

**Author's Note: **After like, six tries, I finally got this document uploaded. Sheesh. My internet SUCKS right now. Like... it just does. It's no bueno. However, here's this, so... woo! Um... not much to say here, it's Shad. He rants himself into chapters. Or something like that.

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><p>"What was that you said… about Riku…?" the Memory Witch asked, slowly. She sounded a bit… worried? Nervous? He couldn't tell. "He isn't… upset about that, is he?"<p>

He shrugged, laughed, and stretched out casually. "Hell if I know! Without Sora as a conduit for my power, I can't read what Riku's thinking without giving myself a headache. Guess you're out of luck! Besides," he chuckled. "Do you think I'm going to answer that honestly?"

"He has a point," Real Thing muttered.

The Memory Witch glared. After a second, he could feel her poking around in his brain. He grimaced, and then waved his hand as if swatting her away (like it would do him any good).

"Don't waste your energy," he told her. "I don't know."

"You're lying…" she said, slowly.

He glared, and then threw up a couple of mental blocks.

"Okay, fine, it might have come up in our conversation," he admitted. "But he was too busy screaming at me to give me a straight-"

"'How can you not hate her' is exactly what you said," the Memory Witch spat. "You _do_ know!"

"Okay, so I do know, shoot me!" he replied, throwing his hands up in the air. "But just because he doesn't hate you doesn't mean he's not upset! And, anyway, it was more fun to let you wallow in your anguish and uncertainty, with anger and desperation burning in your heart-" He paused, then smiled; darkly, knowingly. "Desperation is fear," he said, slowly, turning to Real Thing. "Ain't it, Real Thing?"

Real Thing looked like he was going to ask how he knew, but then decided against it.

"No, don't change the subject!" the Memory Witch said, her glare deepening. "I want to know-"

"Oh shut up," he told her. "I've had my fun messing with you. Let's mess with Real Thing, now!"

"Let's not…" Real Thing muttered.

Sora's Shadow laughed. "Like you have a choice in the matter?" He threw up _another_ wall to keep the Memory Witch out of his head, and then started poking around in Real Thing's memories. The subject of Ansem (who had told him that desperation was fear) was still fresh in his mind, and there were plenty memories around concerning him.

And, it didn't take much poking before Sora's Shadow found something juicy.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, slightly shocked. Only slightly, though, the rest of was just for show. "Now that's new! I didn't know you were _possessed_at one point! Riku apparently didn't care about- well, he didn't care about you at all, so-"

"Glad he doesn't still hate me…" Real Thing said, not fazed.

"Back to you being possessed-"

"It's none of your business," Real Thing interrupted.

"See, now _there_ is where you are wrong," Sora's Shadow said, smiling a truly dark smile. "Anything and everything concerning the darkness _is_ my business. I _make_ it my business."

He poked around some more, though he didn't have to go digging far. The thought of being possessed by Ansem was quickly followed by falling into darkness, and the time Real Thing had spent completely submerged in darkness, all thanks to-

Sora's Shadow frowned, concentrating. He could see her face. He just needed a name…

"Who is that…?" he whispered. She appeared to be a sorceress of sorts, apparently had control over the Heartless. (He scoffed at that thought. No typical being could _truly_ control the Heartless.) The sorceress-lady also _sounded_ extremely evil, and seemed a bit full of herself.

He decided he didn't like her.

"Maleficent," he said, slowly, and Real Thing cringed slightly. He raised his eyebrows at that, and then continued digging.

There were plenty of memories concerning Maleficent, and the more he saw, the less he liked. He was glad that she was dead in this universe.

Wasn't she?

He grimaced.

He didn't honestly know.

"I'm getting sidetracked!" he said, mainly to himself. "Back to the subject of Ansem!"

He came across a memory immediately, as if it was waiting for him. He could see Real Thing, floating in darkness.

"_I see you now… clearly…_" a voice said, and Sora's Shadow grimaced.

He knew that voice…

"_Lexaeus!_"Real Thing demanded.

A couple quick images flashed by. A man in a black cloak, who Sora's Shadow assumed was Lexaeus. A fierce battle. Real Thing leaping to attack. Real Thing being knocked back. Darkness.

"_Riku… I can see your heart…_" the voice continued, its tone making Sora's Shadow want to squirm.

He refrained.

"_No… it's not…_" Real Thing said, slowly. "_Darkness this foul could only… only be-_"

"_That's it, remember me… let me drift into your heart…"_

"_Ansem!"_

Ansem laughed.

Sora's Shadow actually _did_ squirm, now, and he quickly pulled out of Real Thing's head. "That- that laugh," he said, cringing. "Oh- Ah- arg! You did that- you did that on purpose, didn't you!"

Real Thing smirked.

"Well, there's one thing we can agree on," Sora's Shadow said, rubbing his ear, as if it would help get the sound of Ansem's laugh out of his head. "Ansem is a _creeper_." He shuddered. "I _told_ Sora to stay away from him, but he wouldn't listen to me!"

"I doubt you make a very good voice of reason," Real Thing muttered.

"_Ventus_ listened to me," he argued, then he laughed. "Actually, I think I scared him off. He _did_ have a panic attack when he saw me. Apparently I reminded him of someone…"

"Who?" the Memory Witch asked, and she sounded generally intrigued.

"Good question," Sora's Shadow replied, and then frowned. He couldn't remember. Well, he _could _remember a couple of images, most of which consisted of someone who looked similar to him. However, he couldn't remember what said someone's name was. "What's his name?" he groaned, more annoyed at himself for forgetting it than anything else. "I mean, seriously, you'd _think_ I'd be able to remember it, given how steeped in darkness the thought was, but _no!_ I can't remember it at all!" He sighed.

"You know we don't actually care, right?" Real Thing said.

"I was slightly curious," the Memory Witch muttered. "But, really, it doesn't-"

"I'm curious!" Sora's Shadow snapped. "I don't _typically_ forget things! Though… his name _was_ a bit odd… Latin or something… What was it?" He refrained from groaning again. "I wonder how strong the connection between me and Ventus is… maybe I can raid his thoughts and figure it out…"

He closed his eyes, concentrating. Since Ventus was still kind of connected to Sora, it was easier to make the connection with him than it was with most people. Now, all he had to do was-

He gasped in pain, clutching his head and quickly withdrawing. "_Bright_!" he spat, loathingly. "I always forget how damn _bright_ he is!"

"Having problems?" the Memory Witch laughed.

He glared at her. "Establishing a connection across worlds is enough of a strain already, Witch," he said, and then rubbed his head again. "But since Ventus is so _damn bright_ and gives me a headache, establishing a connection with him is pretty much impossible! It'd be different if he was standing right there or something." He gestured to an area nearby. "Maybe what's-her-face is around," he muttered. "I might be able pick up enough darkness from her to stay in Ven's head long enough to-"

"What's-her-face?" Real Thing laughed.

Sora's Shadow glared.

"As you can see, I'm apparently no good with names," he said, bitterly. "And it's not like _I've_ ever met her, and neither has Sora, and I'm pretty sure we've already established that Ven is too damn bright for me to pick up anything from. Now…" He trailed off, then frowned.

Sora "cutting off" connection with him hadn't worked as well as Sora would've probably liked it to. He was starting to get a dribble of what was going on. Admittedly, it was only a dribble, but…

The point was.

With Sora functioning as a conduit for his power again, he could hear a couple of Riku's thoughts. The thoughts weren't very _clear_ thoughts, but he blamed that on the fact that Sora was kind of trying to block him out (even if he wasn't doing terribly well at it). However, what he _could_make out was rather amusing.

Because, from the sounds of it, Riku was still rather upset about what he had said earlier concerning the Memory Witch.

_Damn, that boy's devoted!_ he thought with a laugh. _Wonder what would happen if she knew- no. That's not what I want…_

The Memory Witch frowned.

"What's _that_ look for?" she asked, slowly.

"Huh?" He hadn't realized he had been staring. "Oh, well, I'm debating on whether or not I can touch you," he replied, as if it were the most normal thing in the Worlds. "Because I think it would be absolutely hilarious if Riku found out that you were here, and nothing can _really_ stop me from physically dragging you to him."

"I could," Real Thing said.

"You're not on the same plane of existence as me," Sora's Shadow replied.

"And Namine is?"

"I'm hoping…"


	48. Sinister Shadows

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the delay! I've been really exhausted (yay migraine clusters) and whatnot... but here's the last chapter of this crossover. Hope you're not disappointed with the outcome. Enjoy!

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><p>The Memory Witch started poking around in his head again.<p>

He sighed.

"_Must_ you?"

He threw up a few more mental blocks to keep her away from a few memories that he _didn't_ want her to see, focused a bit on recalling some that it would be amusing for her to stumble upon, and then started poking around in _her_ head, just to see how _she_ liked it.

She glared.

He went ahead and glared back.

Then she poked at a memory that he didn't want her seeing. Now he _really_ glared, and quickly threw up _more_ mental blocks around it.

Mental blocks which she then proceeded to, well, _shatter._

"Hey!" he shouted, throwing up some more. "Stay away from that, Witch!"

"You can stop calling her that, now!" Real Thing spat.

"It's better than the alternative," the Memory Witch told him, her voice quiet and maybe a bit strained.

Sora's Shadow might have laughed if he wasn't too busy trying to keep her away from the blasted memory. He wished she'd leave it alone, though, since he was trying to keep her away from it, she probably _really_ wanted to figure out what it was.

Great.

He grimaced, then pulled at one of her memories at random, hoping it would be painful enough that she would stop.

It wasn't. She didn't even seem fazed by it.

He growled. He figured that anything involving Larxene would have been good enough. Guess not. New tactic.

"Cut it _out!_" he screamed.

He was starting to get images from the memory now, which could only mean she was _succeeding_. He could see Kairi sleeping. Kairi screaming. The tears-

"What is going on?" Real Thing asked.

The Memory Witch paused her mental assault for a second. Sora's Shadow only held back a sigh of relief. He quickly composed himself.

He wasn't going to cry.

Not now.

Not _ever._

"Sorry, talking out loud takes more energy than this…" the Memory Witch said, slowly. "And I can read his every memory if I poke enough."

"Bi- I mean, Witch! I can only get your dark ones, not fair!"

She scoffed. "_That's_ not fair? What about lashing out at Sora across the face? What about _using_ Sora to make the Riku Replica cry? How are _those_ things fair!"

He glared. "I don't play fair."

"And neither do I."

She started poking the memory again.

"OI!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Touch that memory _one more time_ and someone is going to get hurt! You _saw_ what happens when I get conflicted. I'm sure you don't want that same blind rage lashing out in _your_ direction!"

"You won't let yourself lose control like that again," she countered.

He glared.

"Doesn't mean I want you touching that memory," he said, voice cold. "And that doesn't mean I can't find _other_ ways to hurt you. You have a hell of a lot of dark memories inside of you, Witch. I don't have to specialize in memory manipulation to be able to use them against you." He slowly smiled, then, as he _finally_ stumbled across a good memory.

"I mean, I'd suggest hurting Real Thing," he said, casually, the anger fading from his voice. "But I'd rather _not_ have my heart brutally shattered and my body left discarded here like some forgotten toy."

Real Thing's eyes widened in shock.

The Memory Witch screamed.

Legitimately screamed.

Sora's Shadow smirked.

She launched herself at him, looking about ready to strangle him. He braced himself for the impact, and prepared to teleport away as soon as she made contact with him. What a _wonderful_ time that would be to appear in Aerith's house!

Pity, though, she didn't actually make contact with him.

She ended up passing through him, instead. And it felt _extremely_ weird. The weirdness, however, was drowned out by the flood of memories. He slowly sunk to his knees, clutching his head.

He really hated pain…

And the memories were, of course, only dark ones. Therefore, they were pretty painful.

Or, enough of them were, anyway.

Plus, to top it all off, the two memories on top involved her poking at people's memories, causing them pain. She _knew _it hurt them. And he thought _he _was bad…

_C'mon, pull yourself together!_ he scolded himself. _You need to be the one to get up first! Show that stupid little witch that you're better than-_

He paused, taking a second to focus on one of the memories.

He recognized this one…

"Oh, hello," he said, and then grinned. "_That's_ a lot of information! I mean, I was getting the most frantic thoughts from Riku earlier, but now that _you're_ here, the picture's complete!"

The Memory Witch turned around and glared at him. Real Thing rushed over to her, and then helped her to her feet. He might have asked if she was okay, but Sora's Shadow had tuned them out. He knew where they're minds would be for the next bit, and he'd rather not be intruding on it.

Not because he was being polite or anything.

But because he didn't feel like _puking._

"I wouldn't if I can affect him from here," he muttered, mainly to himself. He should've known that they were listening to him, but he didn't notice. "I want him to relive that memory. I want him to collapse into a pile of tears on the floor! I want him to-"

The sound of a blade being summoned caught his attention. He turned, and, no surprise, found Real Thing's blade aimed at his throat. Surprisingly, though, Real Thing wielded a Keyblade. He wasn't sure which was more surprising; the fact Real Thing wielded, or the fact that he _just noticed._

"Leave my Replica alone," Real Thing said, firmly.

Sora's Shadow snorted.

"Please! What do _you_ care?"

"I know that _this_ is supposed to be his second chance at life, and I think he deserves something relatively _happy_. And I'm pretty sure that that's not going to happen if he keeps being bothered by his past."

"All he does is _ignore_ his past," Sora's Shadow said, rolling his eyes. "Like _that_ does him any good."

"And you poking at his memories doesn't do him any good, either," Real Thing retorted.

Sora's Shadow made a face. "You know, I don't think he's going to be too happy about the fact you're-" He paused, and then turned to the Heartless that just appeared beside him. "Oh, shoo!" he said, waving it away. "I'm in the middle of-"

He stopped. He could feel more Heartless appearing around them, and then all over Hollow Bastion.

Which meant…

He swore, then looked up at Real Thing and the Memory Witch.

"You need to _go_!" he said, quickly.

Real Thing frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but the Memory Witch beat him to it.

"Why should we listen to you?" she asked.

He pointed over at Aerith's house, which they weren't _too_ far away from. It was a fairly _large_ distance away, but they could still see it.

Which meant they could also see Riku throw himself out the door and start killing Heartless. And, very vaguely, they could hear his shouts of frustration, though it was impossible to make out any distinct words.

If he was even shouting any…

"_That's_ why," Sora's Shadow said. "Don't tell me you _want_ to be on the same battlefield as him!"

"I thought you _wanted _him to know we were here," Real Thing said, slowly, seeming a tad confused.

"Well that was _earlier_ when he was just being angsty," Sora's Shadow replied. "Now he's pissed. You don't mess with Riku when he's pissed. That ends with a blade through your gut. I'd rather _not_ die, here! Besides, he _can't_ kill me! It would _severely_ damage the balance of this universe! I _have_ to be killed by Sora!" He frowned. "Or… someone closely connected to Sora. I bet Kairi could kill me. I mean, I doubt she _would,_ but I bet she-"

"What does us being here have anything to do with this?" the Memory Witch demanded.

Sora's Shadow pointed at Riku again. "He's going to see you," he said, slowly, as if to make his point _absolutely_ clear. "When he sees _you,_ he sees _me._And it probably won't be good if he sees me with you. Plus, the fact that the two of you are here, _together_ isn't going to go down well, either."

The Real Thing and the Memory Witch exchanged semi-skeptical glances.

"I thought you were on a different plane of existence," the Memory Witch said argumentatively. "You can't touch us and we can't touch you."

Sora's Shadow groaned. "Not the point! You stupid people! Can't you just—"

He paused, listening.

"Shit."

Sora had convinced Aerith and Tifa that would be a _good _idea to let him help fight the Heartless. Aerith had naturally been skeptical. Tifa, however, had been able to see the benefits of constructive Heartless slaughter. (Well, she hadn't said slaughter, but that's what Sora's Shadow interpreted it as.) In the end, Aerith had conceded, possibly because the caffeine was wearing off.

Before the Real Thing or the Memory Witch could ask him any more stupid questions on the matter, Sora came bursting out of Aerith's front door much like Riku had done moments before. By that point, the Real Thing and the Memory Witch were too busy focusing on the giant bandages across Sora's face. The Memory Witch's face scrunched all up in concentration.

"Hey!" Sora's Shadow shouted, forgetting for a moment that he was trying to get them to leave. "You leave his memories alone! Those are mine to mess with."

The Real Thing responded to that by shoving his blade dangerously close to Sora's Shadow's neck. Not that it would have done anything, but the point was still clear as crystal.

"And you can leave hers alone," he said, his voice no longer angry, just scary dark. The Real Thing turned to the Memory Witch and started talking about how they should leave.

Sora's Shadow didn't listen. He didn't care. He was too busy noticing the fact that his throat hurt just a little. It was as if the Real Thing had wanted to hurt him so badly that it actually worked a little. He had so much darkness inside of him! If only there was a way to just_ mess _with it a little…

But it was too late, they had gone. And, come to think of it, he should leave too. Before Sora noticed.

So he did.


	49. Off on the Wrong Foot

**Author's Note: **So, working 13 hour days TOTALLY is just... idk. It's great because of the overtime... but getting up at 7:00, to be at work by 9:00, to start work at 9:30, work until 11:00... not get home until midnight... UGH. This is day two of two of 13-hour shifts. Woofreakinghoo. At least I get paid a crapton.

Moving on. New chapter for you! This is a bit of backtracking... considering this takes place BEFORE they all go to Hollow Bastion. This is BEFORE Joseph and Toby were bored and pestering 29 about it to the point where Namine takes them to the Islands. In fact, this is only a few mere HOURS after Toby arrived.

So... yeah... Sorry about posting out of order... But, onto the chapter anyway!

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><p>"Here goes nothing," Vexen muttered to himself, knocking on 23's office door.<p>

"Come in," 23 mumbled.

Vexen walked in.

"Oh, it's you," 23 said. "I was expecting 19."

"Sorry, not who you were expecting," Vexen said, twiddling a pencil between his fingers.

23 just shrugged.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know why you know so much about Toby, actually," Vexen said. "And why you were so opposed to him being here."

23 shifted uncomfortably. "He's a Weapon, that's why."

"Yes, but what is a weapon?"

"I said, it's a child experiment with not just the looks and personalities of the people they were spliced together with, but the abilities too. Jill and Toby were the only successful ones because fire and lightning were the only successful combination. Lightning is unpredictable. So is the personality type of the person the lightning comes from. I'm sure you can understand why I'm uncomfortable having him here. I thought for sure that Riku…"

"You never answered why you know so much about him," Vexen said, interrupting him.

"I was supposed to be Toby's caretaker," 23 answered. "But I convinced Master Vexen that it wasn't in my Programming. I told him I wasn't fit to be a child's caretaker. I was built for the purpose of helping build other Replicas, not look after ones."

"So, I take it you were briefed on what Weapons were then, when you were asked to be his caretaker?" Vexen asked.

"That is correct," 23 responded.

"Is Toby a danger to any of us?" Vexen said. "Tell me your honest opinion."

"It's not like anything I say matters," 23 grumbled.

"Nonsense, I'm sure some people here care."

23 rolled his eyes.

"Do you think he's a danger to us?"

"Yes, I do."

"Why?"

"Because, he's got Larxene in him. And lightning is _so _unpredictable."

"And the fire in him isn't?" Vexen mused.

"What are you saying?" 23 said, his eyebrow raising.

"You keep saying that Larxene is unpredictable, but have you considered how unpredictable Axel can be?"

"All the more reasons why he's dangerous," 23 said.

"Or maybe not," Vexen said. "He could be a great asset to us."

"Saix should have destroyed him."

Vexen glared at 23. "How dare you say such a thing!"

"Oh, not you too!" 23 said. "Don't you go telling me what to do!"

"I'm just shocked that you would want to destroy a boy who isn't even responsible for his powers. He's not even responsible for his entire existence!"

"This coming from the man who created Riku," 23 said.

"That was a past life," Vexen said.

"Don't tell me you don't feel proud of Riku."

"Don't tell me _your _Master Vexen wouldn't have been proud of Toby!"

"If _my _Master Vexen was still alive, we wouldn't be in this mess! But _your _Riku…"

"Stop," Vexen said. "Stop right there."

23 stopped. Then he swore.

"How is it that you can _do _that?" he asked.

Vexen smirked.

"You know, maybe if I had access to the little bit of the Program we had, I'd be able to figure out if Toby's the threat you think he is. I really think knowledge is the best route before action on this one."

"Way to change the subject," 23 spluttered. "And if you think I can get you through Alpha's passwords and firewalls, you've got another think coming."

"Don't _you _have access to the Program?"

"Only what I need to have access too. Alpha's got the whole thing on shut down because he doesn't trust any of us. Well, he trusts 2, but that's about it. Oh, and maybe 29, but I don't know if 29 really has any access."

"I'm sure Alpha trusts more people than that…"

23 snorted. "Fat chance. He's afraid any of us will defect to Saix's side any day. He feels that he's the only one immune."

"Why…?" Vexen began.

"Because he's the only one who didn't turn to Saix's side at the beginning of all of this. He's the only Zexion Replica who went against Saix. And, what did he do? Oh, he disabled all of the other Zexion Replicas."

Vexen didn't have a response to that.

"So if you think I can get you into the Program, you're wrong. You'll just need to keep pestering Alpha about it, you selfish git."

"I'm trying to help you!" Vexen said. "Maybe I could decode something…"

"Maybe you're not like our Master Vexen at all! Close parallels don't mean they're exactly the same!" 23 said.

"This is true, but maybe a fresh pair of eyes…"

"Why are you telling me this?" 23 asked. "Bother Alpha!"

Vexen frowned. "Why are you so jumpy?"

"I'm not jumpy," 23 said.

"You're certainly more quick to anger than you were when I got here several months ago."

"What's it to you?"

"I'd just hate to see something happen to you because of a rash decision, that's all," Vexen said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Vexen shrugged. "I've seen so many things in my lifetimes. Many of which I wish I could un-see. I would hate for something terrible to happen to you because of a rash action."

"Why do you think I'm rash? And why do you care about me all of a sudden?"

Vexen shrugged.

"All you care about is Riku," 23 continued.

"That's not true," Vexen said.

"You care about Riku and your stupid little experiments."

"When was the last time I conducted an experiment?"

"To heck if I know! You could be conducting one right now and I wouldn't even know it."

Vexen frowned. "Something's different about you."

"Go away, I'm tired of listening to you mumble nonsense."

"I don't mumble!"

"Go away!"

Vexen's frown deepened. This conversation had gotten way out from under him. He hadn't learned anything about Toby that he hadn't already known. He had learned that 23 had weaseled his way out of being Toby's caretaker, however. But that was it...

It wasn't even like the information about Alpha was new. Vexen knew that Alpha had the whole Program on lockdown. The extent of the lockdown was just larger than he had originally assumed. He thought Alpha was just trying to keep him out. That wasn't the case.

Alpha was trying to keep everyone out.

Perhaps he should just keep trying to hack the system. Since he knew that talking to Alpha wasn't going to do anything.

Alpha was just being overly paranoid.

"You're still standing there," 23 barked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Vexen frowned, then decided it wasn't worth it to argue. He turned on his heels and walked out.

And promptly got run into by Joseph, with Toby following right behind.

Not surprising.

"Oof!" Joseph grunted. "I'm so sorry, Vexen!"

"It's no matter."

"Oh! Have you been introduced to Toby yet?"

"Not officially…"

Joseph's eyes lit up. "Well, Vexen, this is Toby, Toby, this is Vexen."

"Just… Vexen?" Toby asked.

Joseph nodded. "You see, he's like the original Vexen, except he's from a different universe."

Toby raised an eyebrow. He didn't ask any question, but Joseph seemed to understand what he was getting at. Or he just continued talking; one of the two.

"You'll probably get to see the other universe, actually, or people from it. Oh wait! You already have! You met the other Axel! You see, they're all from the same universe. It's like our universe and their universe are mashed together and we keep running into people from there!"

Joseph mashed his hands together to illustrate his point.

"I've even been to their Twilight Town!"

"What does 29 think?" Toby asked.

Vexen stifled a laugh.

"I mentioned it in passing, he doesn't seem to have a problem…"

Toby turned to Vexen.

"So, are you just always here then?"

Vexen nodded.

"Okay."

"Vexen, you've got that look," Joseph said.

Vexen blinked and looked over at Joseph. "What look?"

"The 'I'm about to conduct a scientific experiment' look," Joseph answered. "I'd offer to help, but your experiments aren't really all that fun."

Vexen wasn't sure what to say about that.

Joseph's face lit up.

"Oh! There's something else that you need to know about Riku!"

Toby looked like he wanted to roll his eyes.

"Vexen, here, created him!"

Toby took a second to process this.

"Oh, okay."

He didn't even question it.

"Why does Toby need to know things about Riku?" Vexen asked.

"Because," Joseph answered. He frowned, thinking. "Well, because I figured it'd just be better that he knew. I mean, Riku _can _have anger management issues…"

Vexen wasn't sure what to say to that.

"I figure we're fine so long as Toby doesn't electrocute him."

Vexen winced.

"But back to that experiment!" Joseph said.

"I'm not conducting any experiment."

"Uh-huh," Joseph said, not believing him in the slightest.

Vexen sighed.

"I just want to see if Toby's as dangerous as 23 thinks, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to do that without any access to the Program."

"So you think I'm dangerous, too?" Toby said, his eyes narrowing into a glare.

Vexen suddenly realized the tactlessness of his last statement. He knew that rectifying this was going to take a lot of extra care. He squatted down, getting on Toby's level. It was something he used to do with Ienzo—years and years ago.

(Though, Joseph looked more like Ienzo than Toby did. Toby looked to him what he would imagine Axel had looked like at such a young age. Not that this was a huge surprise, given whose data the two boys were made from.)

"I don't think you're dangerous," Vexen said. "Not compared to other people in this Castle. Joseph's right when he says Riku has anger management issues. And I hope he doesn't hear me as I'm saying this, because he won't forgive me."

"So you're saying that compared to _Riku, _I'm not dangerous," Toby said, raising an eyebrow.

Vexen got the feeling that this was the most that Toby ever talked.

"I'm saying that I think you're _you_. You didn't _ask _to have an unpredictable control over fire and lightning. It's not your fault. And no one, here, has the right to tell you that you can't be here because of your powers. Because none of the rest of them asked for the powers they have either."

Joseph grinned.

"We're all a bunch of misfits!" he said.

But while Joseph seemed to like the idea, Toby was unsure.

"Tell me what's bothering you," Vexen said, looking Toby in the eye.

"I don't want to be locked in a room again because I'm dangerous."

"I doubt that was why Saix locked you up," Joseph said.

"L didn't like me wandering around."

"That's L!" Joseph said.

"L doesn't like anyone," Vexen said.

"Except 37!" Joseph said, making gagging noises.

"But even if we did think you were dangerous," Vexen said. "We wouldn't lock you up in a room. I promise you, _nothing _is going to happen to you because someone here in Castle Oblivion thinks you're dangerous. Between 29 and I, both of you are safe."

Joseph rolled his eyes. Toby looked comforted, however.

"Maybe I can get Axel to teach you how to better use your fire," Vexen mused.

Joseph snorted. "Fat chance. Axel doesn't do _anything _he doesn't want to do."

"Worth a shot," Vexen said. "But in the meantime, you two should go do things that don't involve getting in trouble."

Joseph and Toby both stifled laughter at that. Then they ran off.

"I'm going to need to keep an eye on them," Vexen mused to himself.


	50. Crankypants

**Note from rarmaster: **So... I realized earlier today that my Spanish was a bit rusty. Too rusty for comfort. So, I remembered that I had intended to write a scene such as this, I sat myself down and just went ahead and wrote it. If you want to know what the heck everyone is saying in this, pop over to my blog, I'll have a translation up.

btw, all the stuff in _italics_ is Japanese, with the exception of the sentence "no es nada"

**Note from magik: **so... chapter 50. This takes place no where in particular in the timeline, btw. Rar and I just decided to post it now. It was only after we decided that that I realized this is chapter 50. Enjoy something funny, guys!

* * *

><p>"6, please, listen to me," 7 said, calmly.<p>

"¡No comprendo a usted!" 6 replied. "¡Si quiere hablar conmigo, necesita hablar en Español!"

7 groaned, and 6 continued ranting in Spanish about… something. No one knew _what_ he was talking about, because no one could understand a word he said.

"I'm beginning to think this is pointless…" 7 muttered, rubbing his head.

"What is?" Riku asked.

"Getting through to 6. He won't stop speaking Spanish, and every time any of us tries to talk to him, he-"

"Says that he can't understand you, and if you want to talk to him you'll have to speak Spanish," Riku finished.

7 threw a glance at Riku, a bit confused. "You can understand him?" he asked, and there was a bit of hope in his voice.

"Uhm…." Riku blinked a few times, suddenly wishing he hadn't said anything. "Lucky guess?" he said, slowly.

7 glared. "No it's not. You understand him!"

"Why does that sound like you're accusing me?" Riku asked.

7's glare deepened. "Get him to stop!" he hissed.

Riku sighed. "You want him to stop? Fine." He turned in 6's direction. "¡Oí! ¡Seis!"

6 turned, looking excited. "¿Si?"

"¡Habla en Inglés por favor!"

"¡No quiero!"

Riku glared.

"What did he say?" 7 asked.

"He says he doesn't want to…" Riku replied. He scratched his cheek. "Lemme try something else. ¡Seis!"

"¿Si?"

"Nosotros queremos comprenderlo," Riku explained. "Y ellos no pueden comprenderlo porque ellos no comprenden Español. Y _yo_ no quiero traducir para ellos. Por tanto, ¿puede hablar en Ingles por favor?"

"¿Para usted?" 6 asked.

Riku made a face. "Sure…"

6 raised his eyebrows.

"_Si,_" Riku clarified, rolling his eyes.

"Lo haría… pero… No puede. Lo siento. No puedo hablar en Inglés más."

"Seriously?"

6 stared.

Riku groaned. "¿En serio?"

"Tristemente, si," 6 replied with a sad shake of his head.

"What?" 7 asked, clueless.

"He, apparently, can't speak English anymore," Riku explained.

"Does he know why?"

Riku glared. "I am _not_ going to keep doing this for you."

"Just for right now," 7 said. "We might be able to figure out what's wrong with him, and then fix it."

Riku sighed. "¿Usted sabe por qué?"

6 thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Ahh… no. No sé."

Riku turned to 7. "He doesn't know."

"I figured."

"¿Por qué quiere saber?"

"Siete quiere arreglarlo," Riku replied.

"¿Y si no quiero ser arreglar?"

Riku turned to 7. "He says he doesn't want to be fixed."

7 stared. "You weren't supposed to tell him—urgh…"

Riku shrugged.

"How are we supposed to fix him, anyway, without full access to the Program?"

"I'd figure something out…"

Riku chuckled and turned back to 6. "¡Lo triste! ¡Siete no le gusta cuando nosotros hablamos en Español!¡El quiere comprendernos! Ah, ¡pobre él!"

6 laughed, too. "Si, ¡pobre él! Podríamos hablar en Español más!"

"You're talking about me, aren't you?" 7 asked.

"No," Riku replied.

7 frowned. "I see you smirking. Besides, I don't need to know _everything_ about Spanish to know that 'siete' means 'seven'. You were talking about me!"

"Creo que estamos molestándolo," Riku told 6.

6 nodded his agreement.

"Riku?"

He turned.

"Ah! Namine! Como-" He paused, then shook his head. "Sorry. What's up?"

She laughed. "I was going to ask you the same," she replied.

"Oh, 6 is just speaking Spanish for some odd reason, and I'm the only one who can understand him," Riku said. "It's nothing, really."

"¡Namine!" 6 called. "¡Creo que Riku le gustas!"

"Hey!"

"What did he say?" Namine asked.

"Nothing," Riku said, quickly. "Right, seis? _¡No es nada__!_"

6 laughed. "No es necesario ser tímido! Usted puede-"

"Shut up!"

"Lo siento, Riku. Si quiere que yo terminar, necesita decirme en Español."

Riku glared. "¡Cállate!"

"¿Por qué?" 6 asked. "Si le gusta, debería decirlo. ¿Por qué esconderlo? No veo el punto de escondiendo. Además, actuando como esta, ella va a notar muy pronto. Pienso que sería mejor si-"

"_Damare!_" Riku shouted. "_Bakayaro._"

6 froze, looking slightly horrified and possibly like he was going to cry.

Riku swallowed.

"What did you just say?" Namine asked.

Riku didn't answer.

"I don't know what it was," 7 told her. "But it _sounded_ rude."

Riku swallowed again. "You didn't— Usted no comprendió lo ¿verdad?"

6 only sniffled.

"_Gomen'nasai,_" Riku said, rubbing his head. "_Watashi wa-_"

6 glared slightly.

"Eh? You want-" Riku paused, then frowned. "¿Quiere que yo explico en Español? Pero pienso que- ah… Español no tiene el vocabulario que-" He sighed. "Perdón, seis. Estuve enojado y quise que se callara. No dije en serio. Perdón."

"Es- está bien…" 6 said, slowly.

Riku stared. Was that… a smile on 6's face?

"Usted no comprendió me." It was not a question, it was a statement.

6 broke out into a full grin and shook his head.

Riku's stare quickly became a glare.

"_Ore wa omae o kirai,_" he muttered.

"¿Qué?"

"No me gusta a usted…" Riku shook his head in disgust. "Usted realmente me hizo pensar-"

"¿Qué dígame?" 6 interrupted.

Riku paled. "Ah… Tiene razón. Está bien."

"¡Bueno!" 6 turned and started off. "¡Adiós Señor Enojadizo!" he called over his shoulder.

Riku stared after 6, confused.

"What did he just call you?" Namine asked, laughing slightly.

"Mr. Irritable," Riku replied slowly.

Namine stifled a snort. 7 flat out laughed.

Riku settled on glaring after 6.


	51. Olympus Coliseum

**Author's Note:**I feel that right about here is supposed to be where I say a whole ton of confusing stuff about where this fits in... Well, in my universe it happens after what just happened (obviously, because how can certain characters be two places at once? (not going to tell you who, I'll let you read.)) As for rar's universe, this happens... before the last chapter she posted. Ideally, I would have had this up sooner... but that didn't happen, and she couldn't delay because she had to post a chapter for author's note purposes..._  
><em>

And this is where I tell you that this crossover is three chapters long, but it's going to take me forever to get it all posted because I'm doing fifty thousand things at once. Expect updates... semi-somewhat-regularly.

* * *

><p>They left Hollow Bastion fairly early in the morning. Despite that, it was probably mid-afternoon by the time they reached the next World – Olympus Coliseum, Tifa called it. Tifa also said that the time difference probably wasn't anything that they need to worry about. The Worlds tended to run at different times from each other, apparently.<p>

"So why are we here?" Kairi asked, glancing over at Tifa.

"Habit," Tifa replied. Her eyes were squinting, searching the area, almost as if something was wrong. "I always check here first. It's usually Cloud's first stop after leaving Hollow Bastion, for some reason. Usually, of course. He probably still isn't here…"

"Okay," Kairi said, not thinking it worth it to press the matter any farther. She glanced around the area, too, not quite sure what she was supposed to be looking for, and silently wished she had eaten something more substantial for breakfast. It had just been so _early_, and the thought of eating anything made her sick. She was lucky she had even eaten that muffin.

"Do you think Sora's here?" she asked, turning to look at Tifa again.

"He might be," Tifa said, not entirely sounding like she was worried about it. "No harm looking." She was still scanning the area, as if daring there to be something wrong. She let out an annoyed breath. "Something's _not _right," she declared.

"Really?" Kairi stared, confused. "How can you tell?"

Tifa made a face. "Something just _feels_ off about the World." She turned to Kairi, brow furrowed. "Don't you feel it?"

Kairi shook her head. "I don't feel anything out of the ordinary," she said. She peered past Tifa, then, to get a closer look at something her eyes had caught seconds ago: two people. One of them looked strangely familiar. "I do _see_ something out of the ordinary, though."

Tifa frowned, then turned around to see what Kairi was looking at. "Huh. I guess that would explain it."

Standing off in the distance, and looking about ready to head their direction, was a girl who could've been Kairi's twin, though there was an age difference. She was standing with a boy that Kairi didn't recognize, though he too looked slightly familiar. Slightly.

"So, what, this is that parallel universe you were talking about?" Kairi asked.

"Well, considering I'm looking at two of you, yes," Tifa replied. "Though I suppose this could easily be a _different_ universe."

"Why don't we go ask?"

xx

"Roxas, I don't think I'm coordinated enough to throw my Keyblade and then catch it again," Kairi muttered, her Keyblade dragging on the ground.

"Come on, Kairi," Roxas said, rather patiently. "You know you're jealous when Sora and Riku have done it."

Kairi frowned. "Yeah…"

"So, basically all you do, is you toss your Keyblade at the Heartless, you let it hit them, and then, if it's not gonna come back to you, you summon it back. You'll get to the point where it will actually come back to you."

Kairi frowned again, but it was a thoughtful frown this time.

"Maybe I could try that," she said.

Another batch of Heartless showed up.

"Ready?" Roxas asked.

Kairi tossed her Keyblade.

"Ready!"

Roxas grinned. "It's all about being one with your Keyblade."

Kairi laughed. "I was one with a Keyhole once."

Roxas blinked. "I think I remember Xion telling me about that one."

Kairi summoned her Keyblade back to her. "It was fun. Except the passing out part. That wasn't fun."

"Passing out is never fun. I fell off a building once doing that."

"I think I remember that happening. Our hearts connected then."

Roxas' eyes lit up. "Oh yeah!"

With that, he set off to take care of his share of the Heartless too.

xx

Kairi gasped. "Heartless!" she shrieked.

Tifa took a fighting stance. "This is normal for Olympus Coliseum."

Kairi looked up at her with a mixture of bewilderment and shock.

"Get used to the danger, Kairi," Tifa said. "This is mild, even."

However, from the looks of things, the Heartless were more focused on the other Kairi (well, they had to assume that she was the other Kairi, since they hadn't confirmed it yet) and the boy she was with.

"They have Keyblades," Tifa mused. "That's why the Heartless are focusing on them."

"Why is that?"

"Heartless simply have a tendency for attacking those with the Keyblade. There are a few different reasons for it; like the Keyblades being a threat to the Heartless, those who wield Keyblades having strong hearts that the Heartless want to capture, among other things. I mean, Heartless will attack _anyone, _really. But they're the prime targets at the moment."

"I feel like we should go help them… but I don't know how to fight."

"That's going to go on the list of things I teach you while we're out. World's know we'll have the time while we're out looking for them…"

Kairi frowned.

"I never said finding Sora was going to be a quick thing. Finding Cloud _never _is."

Just then, the boy looked right at Kairi. He froze in the middle of the Heartless he was battling. The Heartless (Kairi had no idea what kind it was—it was medium-sized, black and ugly) attacked his head. He merely swiped it off and sliced through it with his Keyblade—hardly even looking at it.

xx

"Uh, Kairi, we're in our universe, right?" Roxas asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Kairi said, not looking at Roxas as she answered. It was pretty typical for any group of them to talk to each other while fighting. She hacked through a Gigas Shadow in several strokes. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, you've got a twin. I mean, she looks _just like _you. Except… younger, maybe…"

Kairi turned, the other Kairi's eyes drifted over to her and they locked eyes, neither dropping the gaze.

"Pearl!" Roxas shouted.

Most of the Heartless were blasted back.

"Kairi, Heartless first, questions later!"

"Right," Kairi said. She extended out her hand. "Diamond Dust. Let's destroy these things."

Roxas gripped her hand and in a burst of light, each of them were covered in an icy-blue aura.

xx

"What is that?" Kairi asked.

"A combo of sorts," Tifa replied, her hands twitching.

"You want to go fight, don't you?" Kairi asked.

Tifa didn't respond. Kairi took that lack of response to mean yes. Tifa's personality just _screamed _that she was a fighter. By choice or by fate, she was a fighter. But it wasn't their business to fight the Heartless at this particular moment.

Especially since the Heartless were now all gone. The red-haired girl and the blond boy took off running towards them, Keyblades banished.

"Let's get out of the arena before more Heartless show up!" the boy said.

Tifa seemed to already know where she was going as she grabbed Kairi's hand and yanked her away. The four of them ran for the arena's entrance, amidst both jeers and cheers.

"Hey! Kids! I got two words for yeh!" Someone shouted after them, his voice rising above all the others.

"You can't leave like that!"

"That's five words," Kairi said, counting them.

"Yeah," the boy said. "He thinks everything is 'two words'; it never is."

"Huh," Kairi mused.

By now, they were in a lobby of sorts. Kairi looked around to get her bearings, but nothing looked familiar at all. She had definitely never been here before. Especially if they were in a different universe. But she assumed that this place (or something like it) existed in her home universe, otherwise Tifa wouldn't have tried to come here.

How ironic. Her first voluntary off-world travel and she winds up in a different universe entirely. Nowhere near Sora.

It was rather frustrating.

"I'm Kairi," the girl said, extending out a hand for her to shake. "I'm going to assume that you're Kairi as well."

Kairi nodded.

"I thought as much," Roxas said. "Now, the question is, who's in whose universe?"

"You never introduced yourself," the other Kairi pointed out.

"Oh!" he said sheepishly. "I'm Roxas." He gave a little wave.

"I'm Tifa," Tifa offered.

"Kairi," Kairi said. "But you already knew that."

"Back to who's in whose universe," Roxas said.

"Shouldn't we figure out if it's the two universes that are always intersecting, first?" Kairi asked.

"Yes, that seems like a very logical idea," the other Kairi (_older _Kairi, Kairi decided) agreed.

"Your friend, Riku," Roxas said. "He's a Replica, right?"

Kairi nodded.

"So is Namine?"

Kairi nodded again.

The older Kairi, frowned, thinking. Kairi found this weird, it was like looking at herself in a backwards mirror. She made that same face when she was thinking.

"There's a Rebellion going on in Castle Oblivion, with the Replicas," she said,

Kairi nodded.

Tifa frowned now. "I'm not sure if I'm convinced…"

"Joseph," Roxas said. "Little kid, loves ice cream, little bit of a troublemaker…"

"Yeah," Kairi said. She looked up at Tifa. "How many Joseph's can there be?"

Tifa shrugged. "Probably not many."

"I'm going to say that we're from the connected universes _purely _because we both know that other universes exist," the older Kairi said.

"I know what will determine it," Kairi said. "You mentioned Joseph, right?"

Roxas and the older Kairi nodded.

"He asked you a question once. He asked you that if Sora did something really bad, if you'd forgive him. And you said yes."

The older Kairi thought about this for a second, and then nodded. "I don't think that's exactly what he said, but it's pretty close. Why do you bring that up?"

Kairi looked down at her shoes. "Because he brought it up with me last night."

Tifa's face instantly became tense.

The older Kairi's eyes flew wide.

"_Shad_!" she spat.

"You were there!" Tifa exclaimed. "One of those times that he was."

The older Kairi nodded. "Namine did most of her dealings with him, but yes, I was there."

"I should have recognized you sooner," Tifa said.

The older Kairi shrugged. "No matter. I'm sure you've seen loads of things on your travels."

"Never a different universe."

"Well, you're in one now. Because, I can tell you right now that I'm in my Olympus Coliseum."

"How do you know that?" Roxas asked.

"I just do."

"Everything feels different to me," Kairi said.

"Understandably so," the older Kairi said. "How often do you leave the Islands?"

Kairi grimaced.

"Thought so. I remember those days."

"What do you mean?"

"Being left behind. Everyone's off adventuring without you. Until finally you go as well."

_Finally, someone who understood!_

"So you're _sure _that we're in our universe?" Roxas asked.

"Yes, I can tell," the older Kairi replied. She turned to Kairi. "Doesn't something about this world feel _off _to you?"

"Well, yes, now that you mention it. But I just thought that it was because I hadn't had enough breakfast. Either that, or it just feels different from like, the three other worlds I've been to besides the Islands." She shrugged. "Why does it matter so much to him about what universe we're in?"

"I think he's jealous," the older Kairi replied. "That he's never been in a different universe."

"Am not!" Roxas protested.

"Are so," the older Kairi replied, as a matter-of-fact.

Roxas pouted. The pout was similar to the one Sora would make when he was losing an argument. But why would this boy be making a face similar to Sora? He wasn't Sora… he wasn't even this universe's _version _of Sora. Kairi would know. She shook her head to clear it.

xx

"I suppose the next question is," Tifa said, breaking into the conversation. "Why are we here?"

"That is a good question!" Kairi said. "I'm going to guess that you tried to go to your _own _Olympus Coliseum."

Tifa nodded. "We're searching for Sora, and Cloud too. I always check Olympus Coliseum first, by default."

Kairi figured that _this _Tifa's Cloud went wandering a lot. She'd never actually met him. But she could assume. Especially since there was a default location to go and look.

The other Kairi—the _younger _Kairi—kept fidgeting. She was impatient. Tifa had said they were looking for Sora, too. That would probably explain it. From what she could piece together, it had been a _while _since this Kairi had seen her Sora. Kairi could only imagine what _she _would feel like.

Not that this younger Kairi was exactly like her. But, she figured that when it came to Sora, things were probably rather similar. Maybe.

"I'm hungry," Roxas mused.

"You're always hungry!" Kairi replied, trying to keep from sounding exasperated at him.

"Maybe let's go into town and grab a bite to eat," Roxas suggested. "She did say she hadn't had enough for breakfast." He pointed at the younger Kairi as he said this.

She merely shrugged.

"Food probably wouldn't hurt," Tifa said. "We can easily talk over food. And then maybe we can figure out if there's a reason for us being here."

"Is there always a reason?" the younger Kairi asked.

Tifa shrugged. "I'd like to think there is."

The younger Kairi sighed. "I think it's just my luck. We're trying to find Sora, and what do I do? I end up in a different universe."

"What is it with Sora and getting lost?" Roxas mused, starting to walk in the direction of the town.

The younger Kairi grimaced, alerting the older Kairi that Sora was _definitely _a rough subject to talk about.

But then… what was there to talk about?

"Looks the same," Tifa said, looking about as she changed the subject. "But you're right, it does feel different."

"How can all of you tell this?" Roxas asked.

"When you go to a different universe, you'll know," Kairi replied. "Granted, I have a pretty strong connection with _all _worlds…"

"It's cause you're a Princess, isn't it?" the younger Kairi asked.

Kairi nodded. "You are too, right?"

She nodded. "Though, it doesn't get me much. I get more as the Mayor's Daughter than I do being a Princess."

Kairi laughed. "Boy do I know that feeling."

"This is weird…" Roxas said.

"Two Namine's would be weirder," Kairi pointed out.

Roxas blinked and scratched his head, trying to imagine that.

"Oh goodness," the younger Kairi exclaimed. "They probably wouldn't even _talk_! They'd just… draw things…"

"They'd be telepathic," Roxas said. "No doubt about it."

"Two Rikus!" the younger Kairi mused, actually getting enjoyment out of this conversation.

"Actually, our Riku and your Riku would probably try and kill each other," Kairi said.

"Excuse me, what?" the younger Kairi said, her face blank.

"Well, your Riku is a Replica of our Riku," Roxas said. "They fought to the death once, and then Riku was taken to your universe as like… a second chance."

"That makes so much sense!" the younger Kairi said, her eyes going wide. "With him just _arriving _on the beach that one day… Oh my gosh… that is so _weird!_" She paused, then, and her face fell. "Everything… started changing… after Riku showed up."


	52. Sora

**Author's Note: **Nothing much to say really... all the timeline stuff was posted in the last chapter... more stuff just happens here. Rar wrote the majority (if not all) of this chapter. I might have helped a tad... I don't really remember without going back through and rereading.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean?" the older Kairi asked.<p>

Kairi stared for a second, too stunned to say anything more. She hadn't even really meant to bring it up in the first place. It had been on her mind, but—

She quickly looked down at her toes to hide the tears that were rushing to her eyes.

"Hey." Roxas stopped walking and turned to look at her. "You don't have to talk about if you don't want to."

She slowly stopped walking, too, and took a deep breath. "No, it's okay," she said, and then looked up at the older Kairi. She and Tifa had stopped walking, too. Kairi swallowed.

_You don't _have_ to say anything,_ she reminded herself. _They'll understand._

_I know. But I want to._

"It's just like…" She paused, and then tried a different approach. "Me and Sora were inseparable when we were kids. We did everything together. So when Riku showed up… I guess…" She trailed off. Where had she been planning to go with that? _Everything changing… Sora—_

_Sora_.

Her throat tightened.

Wanting to talk about him and actually doing so were two completely different things.

_Just say it._

_Just say what's on your mind. No sense trying to lie about it or dodge the subject or anything._

_You're the one who wanted to have this conversation._

_Besides, the older Kairi could probably tell if you were hiding something._

_You are basically the same person, after all._

_So just—_

"It was weird to have someone else around?" the older Kairi offered, interrupting her thoughts.

Kairi stared for a second, but then agreed. "Yeah." She was silently thanking the older Kairi about a million times for helping her with that. While, in her head, she was pretty sure what she would've said next, she had a feeling that getting the words to come out of her mouth would've been a completely different battle.

She was determined to fix that.

This was the very thing that had kept her from saving Sora in the first place.

"How'd you know?" she asked. "Was it like that here?"

The older Kairi laughed and shook her head. "No, we all grew up together."

"That must've been weird… growing up with Riku."

The older Kairi shrugged. "I couldn't imagine it any differently."

"If that's all, then let's get moving again," Roxas said. "I'm really getting hungry." He turned and started walking again, motioning for them to follow him much like Sora might have. Though, Kairi admitted to herself that she might've imagined the similarity; she had been suspicious of Roxas since he had first reminded her of Sora, and had been watching him for any other resemblances.

Her mind could easily be playing tricks on her.

The older Kairi rolled her eyes and followed after Roxas. Tifa followed after, and Kairi pulled up at the rear.

_What is wrong with me?_

_Why didn't I just say it?_

_It's not their business to know,_ a part of her argued.

_But that doesn't mean I have to freeze up when I think about it,_ she argued back.

"You okay?" Tifa asked, glancing back at her.

She nodded. "Yeah."

She considered telling Tifa more, but never got the chance to. They had walked into the restaurant by now, and there wasn't a chance she could tell Tifa what was on her mind without being overheard. Though… maybe she wouldn't mind being overheard…

The restaurant was a nice place: small, but not terribly so. Roxas headed to the counter, apparently very intent on getting his food, and the older Kairi followed after him. Tifa glanced around and smiled.

"I've been here before," she said. "They have good food. You'll have to try the-" She paused, and then glared at the menu for a few seconds in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me," she said finally.

"Hmm?" Kairi asked.

"They sell burgers here in our universe."

Kairi only had to look at the menu to discover Tifa's problem. The restaurant they were currently standing in only sold chicken. The first three combos on the menu were exactly the same, just with varying amounts of chicken fingers. The fourth and final combo was a chicken sandwich. Kairi did her best not to laugh at the situation, even though she found it oddly funny.

Roxas had already ordered his food when Kairi and Tifa made it to the counter, and the older Kairi had just finished ordering hers. "What would you like?" she asked, turning to Kairi.

Kairi frowned for a moment. "Same as you got, I guess."

The older Kairi relayed the order, and then told the rather baffled employee (who had been glancing between the two Kairi's since they walked into the restaurant) that they were sisters. The employee still looked slightly baffled, but didn't argue. He then asked Kairi if she'd like lemonade or soda, and she replied soda.

"Sisters, huh?" she asked as she and the older Kairi went to get their drinks.

"I'd say we're twins, but there's obviously an age difference," the older Kairi replied as she dumped excess ice out of her cup and moved to get her soda.

"I know, but you'd think he'd just _assume_…" Kairi shook her head and filled her own cup with ice.

"You two look just a _smidge_ too much alike; just enough to give anyone who isn't used to this – or who is, for that matter – a pause," Roxas said. "You want some ketchup, uh-" He got a thoughtful look all of a sudden (which, there was no doubting, looked a lot like Sora's thoughtful look). "We should come up with a name to call you, so we don't confuse other people by calling you both Kairi."

"Janine," Kairi replied, without even thinking about it. "And yes to the ketchup."

"Janine, huh?" Roxas laughed as he grabbed a few more ketchups. "That sounds a bit obscure."

"Trust me, if there's anything that I'll answer to that isn't my own name, it's that." She took the straw that the older Kairi was handing her and put it in her drink.

"Why are we coming up with a different name for you?" Tifa asked as she came over and grabbed her own straw (she had opted to get the lemonade).

"So we don't confused people," the older Kairi explained. "And just why will you answer to Janine?"

They moved to sit down at a nearby table.

"Role I had in a school play two – wait-" Kairi thought for a second. "Sora's birthday's next week, which means we're three weeks away from opening night, so – three years ago. And considering how many times we rehearsed the play, performed the play, and reenacted the play just for fun, Janine might as well be my actual name."

"Sora's birthday is next week?" Roxas asked.

Kairi nodded.

"Don't worry," the older Kairi assured the slightly worried looking Roxas. "It's going to be a while before his birthday here."

"You'd almost expect them to be born on the same day," Tifa mused.

The two Kairi's exchanged glances. "When's your birthday?" they asked at the same time, and then laughed.

"May fourth," Kairi said.

"February fourteenth."

Kairi stared.

"You're kidding."

The older Kairi shook her head.

"Roxas?"

Roxas looked up, and then flagged down the employee who had their food. It didn't take them long to sort out whose food was whose; Roxas had ordered the largest meal, and Tifa and the two Kairi's had ended up ordering the same thing.

The chicken fingers weren't anything special, Kairi soon discovered, but they certainly weren't the worst thing she had eaten. The fries weren't half bad either.

"You mentioned you were looking for Sora," Roxas said, swallowing the last of his second chicken finger (the rest of them had only just finished their first). "Can I ask why?" He paused. "Or is that not a subject we want to talk about?"

Kairi followed Roxas's gaze to Tifa, and glared. "Could you stop that?"

"Stop what?"

"Oh, I don't know – the shifty glances, the looking at me like I'm going to break, the interrupting everyone before they can even mention Sora. I mean, seriously, it's not going to kill me to talk about him."

Tifa glanced down at her food. "Sorry…" she muttered. "I'm just… cautious…"

Kairi snorted. "Sure."

Tifa shot her a look. "Hey! What happened last night was an exception!"

"Dare I ask what happened?" the older Kairi asked.

"Oh, Sora's Shadow decided he was going to force me to think that there was no way I could save Sora, and when Tifa tried to convince me otherwise, he started meddling." Kairi casually took a sip of her soda. "We ended up shouting at each other for a while."

"In my defense," Tifa said. "It has been years since the last time I've had any form of darkness meddle with my thoughts like that. I'd let my guard down."

"Years?" the older Kairi asked, seeming a bit confused. "What about Sephiroth?"

Tifa frowned, too, also a bit confused. "Gone. Got rid of him years ago."

"Really?"

"Is he still around here?"

The older Kairi and Roxas both nodded.

Tifa made a face that suggested she wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. After a moment a thoughtful look crossed her face. "I wonder who else is still around…" she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Roxas asked.

"Well…" Tifa began, but then shook her head. "No; it'd be best if I didn't know. He's not around in our universe, and that's all that matters. Him being alive here won't change anything."

"Who?"

Tifa just shook her head again.

"Why don't we go back to talking about Sora?" Kairi suggested.

Roxas shrugged. "Alright. You still haven't answered why you're looking for him."

"Well…" Kairi was silent for a moment. She had answers. She had about twenty of them. But it was hard to focus on one, and even harder to make it come out of her mouth. She had spent so long not talking to anyone… would it hurt to continue to keep quiet? Tifa could explain this.

_No,_ she told herself, firmly.

_No. You need to be able to say it._

_How do you expect to save Sora if you can't even tell him, or anyone else, what's on your mind?_

"He lost himself to the darkness," she said, voice much firmer than she thought it would be. "And I'm trying to find him, so that I can bring him back."

There was silence for a moment.

Roxas blinked a few times, apparently at a loss of what to say. The older Kairi looked stunned and… angry? Was that anger? And, if it was, Kairi couldn't help but wonder if that was _really_ what she looked like when she was angry.

"You two seemed surprised," Kairi said when neither of them decided to say anything.

"Uh…" Roxas began.

"I- I can't believe-" the older Kairi managed to stutter.

"I still can't quite believe it, either," Kairi said (though she said it more for the older Kairi's benefit than her own).

Tifa looked like she meant to say something, but must've thought against it, because she merely resumed eating her food.

Kairi slowly took a bite of her own food, too.

_See, Joseph WAS wrong to ask her,_ she couldn't help but think.

_She wouldn't understand._

_She didn't grow up with Sora like I did. She had Riku, too. I had just Sora._

_And she can't even believe that Sora would-_

She stopped herself there.

_You're being too hard on her,_ she told herself. _You never believed that Sora would fall into darkness, either. Why should she?_

_And it's not like it's her fault Joseph asked her a question._

_And it's not like the question matters, either._

_YOU decided to forgive Sora, despite all he's done and no matter what he says. What does it matter what SHE would do?_

When she pulled herself out of her thoughts, she noticed that Roxas and the older Kairi had returned to their food as well.

"You know," Tifa said, breaking their silence. "You two _do_ seem awfully surprised to hear this; especially considering you know – or, at least _you _know-" She nodded at the older Kairi. "That Sora has a Shadow. And you can't really have a Shadow if you haven't-"

"I know," the older Kairi interrupted. "But it's one thing to piece together what happened in your head, and another actually have it told to you."

_And another entirely to have it happen to you_, Kairi thought. She immediately scolded herself for being so bitter. There was no way that it was helping anything. She swallowed, then closed her eyes for a second.

"Maybe… maybe I don't want to talk about him…" she said, slowly, hoping that her voice sounded as upset as she was aiming for.

Of course, she didn't really mind talking about him. Avoiding talking about him felt too much like she was giving up on him.

However, just for now…

Maybe it _would_ be best if they just didn't talk about him.

A generally agreement went around the rest of the table, and the mood lightened quite a bit after that. (Kairi had a feeling that the change of mood was slightly forced, but she didn't really care). She smiled to herself, and took a drink of her soda to hide it.


	53. Road to a Hero

**Author's Note: **At last! The conclusion of the Kairi and Kairi (plus Tifa and Roxas) crossover! I don't even know if I have anything to say about it... I don't think I do... Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"So how much convincing did it take your parents to let you leave the Islands?" the older Kairi asked, obviously trying to make some sort of conversation.<p>

"None."

"You didn't tell them?"

Kairi laughed. "Of course I told my dad. As soon as he got it through his head that I _wasn't_ asking him for munny, he told me to go and have fun."

A bit of sadness tore through her at that thought.

She _definitely_ couldn't call the events of yesterday "fun". "Interesting", maybe.

"What about your mom?" the older Kairi asked.

Kairi stared for a second, a bit confused. She hadn't been asked about her mom in ages. Of course, since they were on the subject of parents, and the fact her mom wasn't around anymore hadn't been specified—

Still, she had no clue what to say.

She just shook her head and hoped that it got her point across.

Thankfully, it did.

"Can… can I ask what happened to her?"

Kairi chuckled. "You can ask. I can't answer. I don't remember when she left; I- I wasn't old enough. And dad doesn't talk about her much." She slowly ate a fry, unsure of what else to do. "What about you?" she asked, then, looking up at the older Kairi. "What's your family like?"

"I was adopted," the older Kairi said. "I wasn't born on the Islands."

Kairi couldn't help but stare. She couldn't imagine _not_ spending her entire life on the Islands. Granted, she couldn't really imagine growing up with Riku, either. And yet, both of those things had happened to her – a parallel version of her, but-

"Do you remember your real parents?" She found herself asking. She grimaced immediately after doing so. That probably wasn't something she should've asked about…

"Not really." The older Kairi didn't seem very bothered. "I remember my grandma, though."

Roxas slowly reached over and snagged one of the older Kairi's chicken fingers, looking very much like he was trying extra hard to be sneaky about it. The older Kairi didn't say anything, so he either succeeded or she just plain didn't care. Kairi had a feeling it was the latter, and couldn't help but laugh a little.

_Sora_ _used to do that to me all the time…_

Thinking of what Tifa would say if she had heard that thought, Kairi quickly corrected:

_And he'll probably do it again, once I have him back._

"Why do you remind me so much of Sora?" Kairi asked, looking at Roxas. The question had been nagging at her for a while, and now seemed like as good of a time as any to ask. "You aren't, like, his brother or something, are you?"

Roxas laughed, and since he had been in the middle of taking a drink, ended up coughing a couple of times. He quickly grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth. "No," he said, and then coughed a few times more. "No, I'm his Nobody."

Kairi stared.

Tifa seemed a bit surprised.

"What's a Nobody?" Kairi asked.

It was Roxas's turn to stare.

"You don't know what a Nobody is?"

"Should I?"

"Give her a break, Roxas," the older Kairi said. "I didn't know what a Nobody was when I was her age."

Roxas made a face, but then nodded. "Well… to put it simply: when someone loses their heart and becomes a Heartless, the body that they leave behind becomes a Nobody."

Kairi made a face.

"Sora lost his heart?"

"He sacrificed it to save mine," the older Kairi explained.

Kairi couldn't help but smile.

How so like Sora.

"He would…" she whispered.

She wanted him back.

"Shouldn't you two _not_ exist at the same time?" Tifa asked after a moment.

"Well, I brought Sora back," the older Kairi said.

"From being a Heartless?" Kairi asked.

The older Kairi nodded.

Kairi frowned. "That sounds like it should be impossible…"

"Not necessarily," Tifa said, quickly, waving the matter aside. "What _isn't_ possible, is that you-" she stared pointedly at Roxas "-and Sora should not be even remotely complete without each other."  
>Roxas grinned. "That's where being a partial Replica comes in."<p>

Kairi's reeling thoughts about Sora – him being a Heartless, this other Kairi bringing him back, and how that all could possibly similar to her own universe – were abruptly brought to a halt. She joined Tifa in regarding Roxas with a baffled expression.

Roxas raised his eyebrows slightly, seeming to enjoy this.

"Your universe is _weird,_" Tifa said finally.

"I'm part Replica, too," the older Kairi added.

"Do you have a Nobody?" Kairi asked.

Tifa laughed. "Don't be silly, of course she doesn't. She _can't_, and, technically, neither can you. It goes against all laws of both our universes. Your status as a Princess of Heart completely rules out any possibility of becoming a Heartless."

"What's a-" Kairi began.

"I never said I was I Heartless," the older Kairi said before she had a chance to finish. "And I do have a Nobody. If I didn't, our universe would be lacking a Namine, and yours lacking a Riku. And, I suppose, a Namine, too."

"I am so confused…" Tifa muttered, rubbing her head. "Absolutely nothing of what you just said should be possible."

The older Kairi just shrugged.

"Let me get this straight," Kairi said. "You're Nobody is _Namine?_"

"Yes."

She blinked a few times. "Okay, I second Tifa's earlier statement: your universe is _weird!_"

"And your universe isn't weird to us?" Roxas replied.

"Hmm… point taken…" Kairi turned to Tifa. "Back to my earlier question; what's a Princess of Heart?"

Tifa groaned and rubbed her temples.

"Princess with a heart of pure light," the older Kairi explained.

"Hence why she can't have a Nobody…" Tifa muttered.

"And I'm one of them?"

"I would assume so," the older Kairi said. "I'd figure that that's something that would be the same between our universes."

"Now that you mention it…" Kairi said, thoughtfully. "I think I remember Maleficent mentioning something about me being a Princess of Heart."

"Maleficent!?" Roxas asked, seeming rather surprised.

"Yes…" Kairi replied slowly, glancing around. Everyone was regarding her with surprised or even horrified expressions. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"You spent time with _Maleficent?_" Tifa demanded, sounding appalled.

"It was… Sora's idea…"

"I suppose that would make sense," the older Kairi mused.

"What?" Kairi asked.

The older Kairi made a face. "Sora… Maleficent… Sora, you know, falling into darkness…"

Kairi frowned. "Are you saying it's her fault?"

"She's easily a factor," the older Kairi said.

"Back up," Tifa interrupted. "You spent time with _Maleficent!?_"

"Why is this such a bad thing?" Kairi asked.

"Because she's _evil! Evil!_ She destroyed countless Worlds, my own included! And you _lived_ with her!?" Tifa seemed very upset, very confused, and possibly slightly angry. Kairi remembered someone mentioning yesterday that she yelled a lot, and was starting to understand what they meant. Tifa was _very_ expressive with her emotions when she was upset about something.

"We- we didn't have anywhere else to go," Kairi stuttered. "Our home was-"

"There was Traverse Town! Aerith and Leon and all them were there for a good five years! You could've gone there!"

Something very, _very_ upset was rising up within Kairi. She could feel tears beginning to sting in her eyes, and when she spoke again she was almost screaming. "I trusted Sora, okay? I _trusted_ him! I thought he knew what he was doing! I- I never liked Maleficent! I avoided her like the plague! Sora avoided her, too, honestly. He only put up with her because he had made some deal with her that if she helped him find me that he would help her with- I don't know what it was. I wasn't told details; Sora was freakishly overprotective of me. Like, Riku to Namine, freakishly overprotective of me." The anger was quickly fading and leaving her to the grasps of sorrow. The words were catching in her throat, but she got them out anyway: "I- I was his princess, and… he was my knight…"

The sudden realness of all their silly childhood games hit her hard.

She _was_ a princess.

Did that actually make him a knight?

"He was my knight…" she repeated, slowly. "I trusted him. I never thought he'd betray me. I- I doubt he even _meant_ to—things just happened, and-"

Sorrow was quickly becoming firm determination.

"I want him back. I want my knight back, I want my _Sora_ back. I _need_ him." Her voice did not falter now, as she spoke. "I do not _care_ what it takes to find him, I do not _care_ what it save him; I am not just going to sit back and let him destroy himself. It is _not_ going to happen! As soon as I find him, things are going to change. The darkness is _not_ going to have him."

They all just stared at her. Roxas looked just plain surprised. The older Kairi seemed flat out stunned. Kairi didn't know what Tifa's expression was, because she would have to move to see her, and didn't really want to do so. Neither did she want to think of what the poor employees of this restaurant thought of her right now…

Finally, Tifa spoke up: "Kairi… it's not that simple…"

She swallowed. "I don't care if it's not that simple," she replied, firmly. "It's what's going to happen." She turned to Tifa then, and found a smile creeping onto Tifa's face.

"I like that attitude," Tifa said. "Where was it last night?"

Kairi shrugged. "I don't know. Where was it five months ago? Why did it take me so long to figure out just how much I _need_ him!?"

"Because you wanted to be strong on your own," the older Kairi replied.

Kairi blinked. Was that it? Was it really that simple?

"That, or something was trying to convince you that you didn't need him," Roxas said. "The darkness usually likes to make you think that you have to go on your own."

"Wouldn't that mean that _she'd _have to have a Shadow though?" the older Kairi asked.

"Not necessarily," Roxas said. "She'd just need to be influenced by the darkness in some way."

"Sora's Shadow could have easily done it," Tifa mused.

Kairi laughed bitterly. "So everything's his fault?"

Tifa shrugged. "I got used to blaming Sephiroth for everything that went wrong in Cloud's life, and I was usually placing the blame in the right place."

"But how could Sora's Shadow have gotten to me and convinced me that I didn't need Sora?"

"He convinced you that Sora was gone, did he not?" Tifa mused quietly.

Kairi bit her lip. "I'm sure some of it very well _could _have been his fault, but I'm going to say that some of it was my own stupidity for not realizing that Sora's my knight."

"Oh, denial," the older Kairi sighed wistfully.

"Hmm?" Kairi asked,

"Denying that you like Sora."

"I never said I liked him in the first place!"

Roxas snorted. It reminded Kairi very much of when Sora would do the same thing in regards to Riku and Namine. (The few, brief moments that Riku's affection for Namine came up. To Kairi's knowledge they _still _hadn't admitted their feelings for one another… things she didn't want to worry about at the moment…)

After a bit, Roxas pointed to the older Kairi's last remaining piece of chicken.

"Are you going to eat that?" he asked, looking like he was about to grab it.

The older Kairi snatched it up before he could fully grab onto it. She ate it in two bites.

"Yes, yes I am."

Kairi glanced down at her own food. She still had a piece of chicken left, and she wasn't feeling very hungry anymore…

"You can have mine, if you want," she told Roxas.

He shook his head. "Nah, that's okay."

"You should probably eat it," Tifa said. "There's no telling when we might have a chance to stop and eat again today."

Kairi nodded and tried to finish it. She only managed a few small bites, and she washed them down with what was left of her soda.

"Are we done here?" Roxas asked after moment. After everyone agreed, he got to his feet and started gathering the trash.

"We should probably get going," Tifa said, getting to her feet, too. Kairi followed her lead. "Here, I think I have enough munny to pay for-"

"That's alright," Roxas interrupted. "The Heartless we fought beforehand dropped a ton."

"You sure?" Tifa asked.

"They did drop a lot," the older Kairi admitted.

"Alright then." Tifa turned to Kairi. "Let's go."

Kairi nodded. Tifa started off. "It was nice talking to you," Kairi said, smiling, before following after Tifa.

"Good luck!" the older Kairi called.

Kairi paused and glanced back. "I'll find him," she said. "I will."


	54. Ienzo! Wait, no, that's Joseph

**Author's Note: (magik): **oh goodness, rar and I can BOTH attest to this taking forever! I mean, I'm not complaining, or pointing jabs at rar-who wrote pretty much the whole darn thing. It's just... this took FOREVER! I'm very glad that rar took this on, for there was no way I was going to be able to do it with everything else that's on my plate at the moment. So... yeah...

I didn't want to start posting any part of this sequence until the whole thing was written, given how long it was taking to be written in the first place. So, we've got several chapters for you that I'll try to post a couple days apart. (I say try purely because I have days where I'm actually hardly on my computer because I'm in class all day, or I'm at work actually WORKING and not just sitting there. Or I'm on a bus... etc, etc.)

I don't think rar had anything in particular she wanted to say about THIS chapter. /shifty glance.

So, enough of me babbling, here's the chapter!

* * *

><p>"Are you alright, Joseph?" Vexen asked, looking over at the boy. Joseph sat on the other end of the couch, swinging his legs slightly, looking rather—<p>

"Bored," Joseph said. "Just bored."

Vexen couldn't help but worry slightly. He'd learned over the past few months that Joseph and bored were never a good combination. He wondered briefly where 29 was, before realizing that there was someone else who wasn't with Joseph but should've been. "Where's Toby?"

"Taking a nap," Joseph replied. "He said he was tired. Guess I don't blame him."

"Maybe you should take a nap, too."

Joseph looked up at him then, the look on his face clearly showing his defiance. "I'm not tired!"

Vexen smiled. He glanced at what he was doing – reorganizing his research notes for the third time that day – and then said: "You want to go get ice cream?"

Joseph made a face. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly.

Vexen raised his eyebrows. "Well, if you don't want to go." He turned away from Joseph and returned to reorganizing his research. "I have other things I could be doing." _Like finding somewhere better than my pockets to keep my notes. Like checking the surveillance footage to see if Riku missed deleting anything from yesterday._

"No, no!" Joseph was on his feet now. "We can go!"

Vexen chuckled and pocketed his notes, doing his best not to crumple them as he did so. He gestured for Joseph to go ahead and open the dark corridor and pushed himself to his feet.

xxx

It wasn't a long time before they both had their ice cream and were standing in Twilight Town as they ate it. Well, Vexen was standing. Joseph had run off. Vexen didn't think too much of it – Joseph did this every time they came – and merely resigned himself to his thoughts.

Part of him wondered what he was even doing here; spending time babysitting Joseph rather than doing other things. He quickly countered those thoughts with rational ones: What was there to do, really?

Yes, he wanted to find a better place to keep his notes. Yes, he wanted to check the surveillance footage. But those were just little things to do; minor things to keep himself occupied. He didn't have much else. He'd only come to this universe to see his Riku Replica, and besides that… there wasn't much purpose he had here.

In times past, he'd spend his time doing research or conducting experiments. But, here, there was little research for him to do, and there was no time or room for him to do any experiments – even if there was, what would he do experiments on? What would he even be looking for? What little research he did nowadays focused on Riku – his Riku Replica – but that was really only because it was the only thing that particularly interested him. There were so many things, so many changes, about his Riku that he'd wanted to study, but… since Riku avoided him…

To put it at best, the research was going absolutely nowhere.

Besides Riku, there was nothing else for him to research – even if he _was_ interested in it. He'd collected all the data he deemed useful and possible to collect from Namine, with the only exception being data on her meltdowns. However, it wasn't just _his_ research on Namine's meltdowns that had come to a standstill. Part of him wanted to keep pressing for research anyway – it would pride him to know he'd been the first to figure it all out – but the rest of him knew that it wasn't going to get him anywhere. Riku wouldn't let him anywhere near Namine, and even if Riku did (and Riku'd have to be desperate to do so), there was simply nothing else to study, no more clues to be found.

That left him where he was now. A researcher with nothing to research.

Joseph suddenly shot by on a skateboard. Vexen watched him go, a bit confused, until his brain finally processed what he had just seen.

"Joseph!" he called, quickly running after the boy.

Joseph brought the skateboard to a stop and turned to Vexen. "Yeah?"

"Where'd you get the skateboard from?"

"Some kids here let me borrow it! It was really nice of them, but they apparently don't use the skateboard all that often, which is, y'know, why they let me borrow it, so they don't mind. Sometimes they watch me skateboard, but-"

"Didn't 29 tell you _not_ to borrow a skateboard from these kids?" Vexen asked, interrupting Joseph's rambling.

Joseph made a face. "Well, yeah, but-"

Vexen frowned. Joseph sighed.

"I'll go return the skateboard," he muttered, starting off. It wasn't long before he was on the skateboard again, though. Vexen only hoped that he was merely skating it back to where it belonged – though knowing Joseph, even if he was, there'd be plenty detours along the way.

Vexen sighed and moved so that he was standing somewhere a bit less conspicuous. He was just trying to figure out where he had left his thoughts when it struck him.

He could research Joseph and the other Experiments.

Even if Joseph and Toby were the only two left, there were certainly more of them at one point. What were they created for? They'd been labeled as "Experiments", but what had the Vexen here been experimenting? What kids were like? How different data worked when combined into a single Replica? What certain members of the Organization might have acted like at a younger age?

He pulled out his notebook to write down his thoughts, though in his hurry to get to a blank page he sent one of the extra pieces of paper he had stuck between the pages to the ground. Frowning, he bent to pick it up, thinking as he did so that he really needed to find a better way to organize all this. Things had been simpler when he had access to a computer on a regular basis…

Maybe he could convince someone here to—what was he thinking? Alpha didn't let him anywhere near the computers; he doubted telling Alpha he merely wanted it for research purposes would change anything. He could certainly _try_, though…

But, perhaps, maybe it would be best to wait until this whole "rebellion" thing was over. It shouldn't be too much longer, right?

He took a second to think about that, and then almost laughed. There was never anything "quick" about Rebellion, unless the rebels were killed shortly after rebelling.

He frowned, then, realizing something. The Organization had never taken kindly to defiance – at least they hadn't in his universe. Why was it that the rebellion hadn't all been killed yet? Certainly, if Xehan—Xemnas wished them all dead, it wouldn't take him much effort to come kill them all. Why were they still alive? Did he just not think it worth his time? Was there some other purpose the Replicas had originally been built for, and thus killing them would—

His thoughts were interrupted by a scream. A boy's scream, though it sounded more shocked than scared or pained. It was also… familiar…

Vexen was about to go investigate when Joseph came running in his direction, chased by a Heartless of the Soldier variety. Of course, it must've been Joseph who screamed. He'd been silly to think it had been—

_Someone screamed. He knew that scream. Dread filling him, he took off at a dead run, hoping to reach the source in time. He had only just turned the corner when he saw them:_

_ A boy, with hair the color of steel that fell to cover half his face, glancing at the creatures that surrounded him not with fear, but alarm. Typical. _

_Still, that didn't stop the terror from rising in his chest._

_ "Ienzo!"_

Not even thinking about it, Vexen grabbed Joseph by the arm and pulled him out of harm's way, putting himself between the Heartless and the boy. It wasn't until he'd dropped his notebook and summoned his shield that he realized the Heartless they were facing was awfully weak and not much of a threat. Well… not much of a threat to him. It was still a decent threat to Joseph.

Vexen stared at the Heartless a moment more, and then bashed it over the head. It died instantly.

"What was _that?_" Joseph asked.

Not entirely sure how to respond to that question, as he wasn't quite sure what that was himself, Vexen asked: "Are you alright, I- ah, Joseph?"

_Joseph. Joseph, not Ienzo!_

_ What is going on?_

One memory. One measly little memory. Why was it suddenly so hard to keep the two boys straight in his head?

"Yeah, I'm alright," Joseph said, then laughed. "You alright? You look like you nearly had a heart attack!"

Vexen turned to him, a bit confused. Joseph laughed again.

"That's what 29 tells me every time I scare him," he explained.

"Ah…" Vexen said, slowly. "I'm… fine."

_I just had my life flash before my eyes, but…_

"I'm fine," he repeated.

Joseph didn't look convinced. After a second, he bent down and picked up Vexen's notebook. "You dropped this," he said, handing it to Vexen. Vexen took it, and stared at it for a moment, his mind not registering what he needed to do with it right away.

_Focus, Vexen! _he scolded, returning the notebook to his pocket.

_There are more important things at hand than reminiscing about Ienzo._

"Why was there a Heartless chasing you?" he asked, frowning slightly at Joseph.

Joseph shrugged. "Well, every now and then," he said. "There are a couple of Heartless around here – just here and there, not a lot of them. If you get far enough away from them, they'll usually leave you alone, but this one decided he wanted to follow me." He shifted slightly. "Sorry for scaring you. I just wasn't sure what to do. I mean, did you see that thing? It was like, twice my size!"

Vexen chuckled at that. The Heartless had _not_ been that large.

"You never did answer my question," Joseph said after a moment. "What _was_ all that about?"

"What was what about?" Vexen asked.

"I don't know. Throwing yourself in front of me and all that."

"Oh…" Vexen was silent for a while. He didn't know what to say. Putting himself between the Heartless and Joseph like he had had just been… instinct. He hadn't even thought about it. He just… did it. Which was odd, knowing him. He usually spent time weighing the consequences, the outcomes, before he acted.

But what to tell Joseph?

"I… ah… You were in danger," Vexen said, finally. "You cannot defend yourself. It was the logical thing to do; get you out of harm's way."

To his surprise, Joseph burst out laughing at this.

"'Logical?' Are you kidding, Vexen!" He could hardly get the words out he was laughing so hard. "There was _nothing_ logical about what you just did! Oh, man…" He sighed. "I mean, seriously, the _logical_ thing to do would've been to shoot an icicle at the Heartless to either freeze or kill it before it could do me any harm. And I know _that,_ because that's what everyone else does when I'm in danger. What you did…" Joseph paused here, as if unsure what to say. "Only 29 has ever done _that._"

Vexen stared, not quite knowing how to respond to this. Yes, he realized that there really hadn't been anything logical about putting himself in front of Joseph like that. But the fact that Joseph recognized it?

Well, Joseph only recognized it because he knew what the logical thing was based on everyone else's – or at least the rest of the Vexen Replicas' – actions. Even so, that was very perceptive of him.

_Like Ienzo._

He frowned.

_Now you're just picking up similarities where there probably aren't any. So what? The boy shares a few traits with Ienzo. Does that mean anything? No. Just coinci—_

_ Wait a minute._

_ Joseph is an Experiment; crafted from the data of multiple Organization members._

_ Could he have some of Ien—Zexion's data in him?_

Vexen didn't see why not.

"Vexen?" Joseph asked.

"Hmm?"

"You zoned out for a second there."

"Sorry," Vexen said. "I was thinking."

Joseph nodded, understanding. After a second, he asked, quietly: "I remind you of Ienzo, don't I?"

Vexen frowned. "How did you…?"

Joseph shifted uncomfortably, and when he spoke, he did not meet Vexen's gaze. "You, sort of, kind of, screamed his name before you threw yourself in front of me," he muttered. He scratched his nose then, almost nervously.

"Oh…" _I screamed Ienzo's name before—how embarrassing… _"Right."

"I guess it makes sense though," Joseph shrugged, and then looked up at Vexen, smiling slightly. "I've got Zexion's data in me, and he and Ienzo are the same person, are they not?" He pushed his hair out of his face as he said this, and Vexen noticed that his hair only fell to cover the right side of his face.

Vexen was suddenly positive that if Joseph let his hair grow out, it'd look exactly like Ienzo's – minus the fact it was darker, of course.

"But," Joseph said then, a bit suddenly. "I'm confused. What's Ienzo got to do with anything?"

"I… looked after him, when he was a child," Vexen explained.

"Oh." Joseph nodded; this obviously made perfect sense to him somehow. He surprisingly didn't ask any further questions on the subject. Vexen wondered that if, because he had some of Zexion's data, there was a subconscious part of his brain that already understood Ienzo's life. Something else he'd have to explore when he eventually got to researching the Experiments farther. Then again, this could just be complete bogus…

"You miss Ienzo?" Joseph asked.

Vexen frowned. What had he done or said to give Joseph that indication? Or was Joseph just asking? Joseph could just be asking…

"You got that faraway look that Riku used to get when he was missing Namine," Joseph explained.

Vexen almost laughed. He'd been thinking about research, not Ienzo. But, now that Joseph brought it up, he admitted that he did… miss Ienzo. Or, Zexion. Or… whatever he was going by now that he was a Somebody again.

"Y'know, you could always go to the other universe and see him, couldn't you?"

"I could," Vexen agreed. There was always an option to go back to the other universe; it was really only a dark corridor away. Maybe he would now. Or, well, he'd go after he made sure Joseph was back in Castle Oblivion and _not_ going to follow him.

But why did he have this nagging feeling that there was a reason he shouldn't go to the other universe?

Oh right.

"Actually, I might not be able to," he said, slowly. "If Xehanort's still around, he'll kill me in a heartbeat. I'm not sure if it's safe…"

"He hate you _that_ much?" Joseph asked. He didn't sound very surprised, though. They'd discussed the matter of Xehanort before.

Hadn't they?

"I betrayed him," Vexen sighed. "He doesn't take kindly to traitors. He'd kill me in a heartbeat if I set foot in-" The words caught in his throat as an all-too-familiar terror gripped his chest. Zexion – _Ienzo_ – had betrayed Xehanort, too. He was undoubtedly dead. There was no likely way he managed to avoid Xehanort's wrath.

"Set foot in what? The other universe?" Joseph said. Then he noticed the look on Vexen's face. "What's wrong?"

"He's dead," Vexen whispered, not wanting to say the words, as if it would avoid making them true. "Ienzo – Zexion – is dead. Xehanort killed him."

Joseph frowned, concerned. "You sure?"

"He betrayed Xehanort just as I did. There is no doubt he's dead."

"I don't know," Joseph said. "If your Zexion's anything like ours, he likely put up a decent fight. He could've gotten away."

"But you don't know Xehanort," Vexen replied. "He's… he isn't someone you want to upset." He sighed, not sure how to put this in terms that Joseph would understand. "Would you ever want to anger Xemnas?"

Joseph's eyes widened in horror, and he quickly shook his head. "He'd kill me! He'd kill anyone who angered him!"

"Xehanort is like that," Vexen said. "But stronger."

Joseph let out a long breath. "Sheesh."

"See why I believe Ienzo is dead?"

Joseph made a face. "But you don't know for certain that he's dead, do you?"

"There's not a likely chance he's alive, Joseph," Vexen said, sadly. "I only escaped Xehanort because I came _here_, where Xehanort would never think to look. Ienzo…" He rubbed his head. "I feel awful. Did I think once about Ienzo before I left? No. I only wanted to save my own skin."

Joseph laid a hand on his arm, trying to be comforting. "Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. Xehanort probably would've killed you too, if you had stayed, right?"

"That doesn't change anything. I still feel awful. I feel like I should've tried anyway."

Joseph sighed. "You want another ice cream?" he asked. "Ice cream always makes me feel better when I'm upset."

Vexen shook his head. "No, but thank you anyway, Joseph."

"I still think you should go to the other universe," Joseph said after a moment.

Vexen turned to him, not sure if he was upset or just plain exasperated that Joseph had suggested that again. "We already said that Ienzo is most likely dead, did we not?"

"Well, yeah, _most likely,_" Joseph said, smiling. "But he could've gotten lucky. People get lucky sometimes. He could've gotten away! He might still be alive! And you won't know until you go find out, will you?"

"But Xehanort-"

"Time passes quicker in your universe, right? It's been…" Joseph took a second to count. "Like, three months since you got here. Three months is plenty of time for someone to stop Xehanort, right? You mentioned Sora was kind of a hero in your universe. He's had plenty of time to stop Xehanort!"

True. Sora and his friends had most likely taken care of Xehanort in that amount of time.

But that didn't mean Ienzo was alive…

"Do you want _me_ to go find out for you?" Joseph asked. "I can!"

"No," Vexen said, firmly. That was not an option. "29 would kill me if he found out I gave you permission to go to another universe. He panics enough when you go to a different World!"

Joseph grimaced.

"But you aren't going to go?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He suddenly sounded very grumpy.

Vexen shrugged, almost helplessly.

"So what are you going to do!?" Joseph demanded. "Are you just going to sit here and mope, then?" He didn't give Vexen the chance to reply. "'Cause if you are, then I'm going back to Castle Oblivion. You're bumming me out."

When Vexen didn't answer, Joseph formed a dark corridor around himself and was gone.


	55. Dark Corridor is not a Verb

**Author's Note: (magik) **So... I meant to mention this the other day but I completely spaced it. When I went to go start posting this, I went into my doc manager and was legitimately surprised to still find documents from the end of Betwixt and Between. It feels like so long ago that I had finished with that project, but, i'm still within 90 days of those last few chapters. It's weird, guys... I'm telling you...

Anyway, rar doesn't have a particular note on this chapter, though she will have a blog up for it probably. Though, she might not... if I remember correctly, I wrote this portion. Do I have anything to say? Not really... nothing but, enjoy!

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><p>"Toby! Toby wake up!" Joseph shook Toby until Toby finally opened his eyes. "Sheesh!" Joseph said, once Toby was awake. "You're harder to wake up than Axel!"<p>

"Whatcha wake me up for?" Toby groaned, rolling over. "I was sleeping…"

Joseph shook him again. "C'mon! We're gonna go on an adventure!"

Toby slowly opened one eye. "We are?"

"Yeah!" Joseph bounced up and down slightly in his excitement.

"Where we going?'" Toby asked, a bit groggily.

"I mentioned that I've been to another universe before, right?" Joseph asked. Before Toby could answer, he continued talking. "Well, we're going to go there again. I need to find someone!"

Toby slowly sat up. "Who are we looking for?"

"Ienzo. Zexion." Joseph made a face. "Vexen kept calling him Ienzo. Anyway, Vexen's suddenly worried about him, and he's too paranoid to go and make sure he's alright. He thinks he's dead. So, we're going to go find out for him." Joseph grinned, now. "It'll be fun!"

Toby rubbed his eyes. He didn't argue, probably because he didn't feel he had much of a choice in the matter. Joseph was hard to argue with, sometimes. "How we gonna find him?"

Joseph shrugged. "I figured we'd just go to the other universe, ask someone about Xehanort – someone else Vexen's worried about being alive, but for completely different reasons. Apparently Xehanort's out to kill him, or something. But, anyway, we'll go to the other universe, ask about Xehanort, and once we've got that cleared up, we'll ask about Ienzo. Hopefully someone knows if he's okay. And where he lives."

"That seems like an awful lot of work," Toby said, frowning.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Joseph asked.

"Can't you just… I don't know… form a dark corridor straight to someone?"

"Oh! Probably! Riku and Namine do that all the time!" Joseph laughed, then closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue in concentration. He slowly held out a hand. "Let's see… Vexen's Ienzo…"

A dark corridor formed at his fingertips.

Joseph opened his eyes. He and Toby stared at the corridor for a moment.

"You think that worked?" Toby asked.

Joseph shrugged, but he grinned. "Let's find out! What's the worst that can happen, huh? We end up in the wrong universe?" He stepped through. Not wanting to be left behind, Toby got out of his bed and followed after.

xxx

Hollow Bastion was surprisingly quiet that afternoon. Or at least, the particular district with this particular set of shops in it was. It wasn't like this area was _always _free of Heartless, it just was recently. Rumor had it that the owner of the Book Store was responsible.

Regardless of what Ienzo said, it wasn't actually true that he was responsible. For whatever reason, the Heartless had just decided to leave this area of Hollow Bastion alone for the past few days. It wasn't like he (or anyone else, really) was going to argue with it. However, Ienzo didn't quite like getting credit for things he wasn't even responsible for.

Especially if it meant that people kept smiling at him when he went anywhere. It wasn't like he didn't want to be smiled at—he just would prefer not to be noticed entirely. He wanted to run his Book Store and be left in peace. Something that didn't seem to be plausible in the slightest as of late.

Stupid Darkness. Stupid Xehanort. Stupid. Just. Stupid.

Currently, Ienzo was up in his study, trying to see if he could find anything in regards to getting past the large amount of darkness blocking their way to the Castle. No luck, as of yet.

Pi was downstairs, humming quietly to himself as he dusted the shelves—something he rather liked doing. He had to hum quietly though, lest he disturb Ienzo.

Neither of them were in the slightest way aware of the havoc that was about to ensue on their shop.

xxx

Joseph and Toby arrived in the quite streets of Hollow Bastion.

"Are you sure about this?" Toby asked, looking around warily.

"Sure!" Joseph said. "As soon as I figure out we're in the right universe, I just have to find Ienzo. Or, if I find Ienzo first, I have to make sure it's the right universe."

"How do you plan on doing that?" Toby asked.

"Asking around. People generally talk to me."

Toby scratched the back of his neck. "Okay," he said. "You seem to know what you're doing."

"Oh, I hardly ever actually know what I'm doing," Joseph said. "Not the whole plan anyway. I sometimes like to just make it up as I go along. It seems to work."

"You planned the chandelier," Toby pointed out.

"I had to!" Joseph argued. "I had to have a definitive distraction to even be allowed to go on that mission. Besides, it was the _chandelier_, of _course _I had to bring it crashing down. The Larxene Replica was just an added bonus."

Toby wasn't sure what to say to that. So he didn't bother saying anything, he just followed off in the direction Joseph started walking.

"So where did you have that Dark Corridor set to go?" Toby asked.

"Oh, somewhere near where Ienzo would be."

"So, wouldn't that mean we'd find Ienzo _before _we figure out the universe thing?"

"You would think," Joseph said with a shrug. "But I think you should know that things don't always work out like that."

Toby shrugged passively. "So, won't people notice that we're just walking around?"

"Well, from the looks of things, we're in Hollow Bastion—_a_ Hollow Bastion, anyway. Loads of people come in and out of here all the time I hear. We should be fine. If not, well, Dark Corridor."

"I don't think you can use that as a verb," Toby mused.

Joseph shrugged. "Like I care?"

The two boys continued walking about the streets until Joseph saw an art store.

"Hmm, I wonder if I should pick Namine up some pencils," he mused. "She's always complaining she needs more blue ones."

"Aren't we looking for someone?" Toby asked.

"Well, yeah, but, art store!" Joseph replied.

Toby frowned, looking around. "Didn't you say something about a guy who was worse than Xemnas?"

Joseph rolled his eyes. "Like he'd recognize us for what we are? Please."

Toby bit his lip.

"You are a worry-wart," Joseph announced. "Fine, I won't go into the art store. But if Namine complains about missing_ any _pencils when we get back, I'm blaming you."

"You can go get her some pencils."

Joseph shrugged. "I'm pretty much broke anyway. I should save my munny."

Toby smacked his forehead.

"Oh look! A bookstore!" Joseph exclaimed.

"What are we going to get in a bookstore?" Toby asked.

"Well, I originally formed the corridor for somewhere near where Ienzo would be. If Ienzo's like Alpha, or vice-versa, or however the heck that works… anyway! Alpha likes books. If I were trying to find Alpha, I'd go there. So, I'll go there to find Ienzo!"

"Sounds reasonable enough," Toby agreed.

Joseph beamed. "See?"

Toby waved Joseph on. "Come on, we don't want to worry 29."

"Assuming we're in the correct universe, time moves much faster here. We'll be fine."

Toby didn't look convinced. Not that it really mattered, because Joseph was already skipping his way into the bookstore. Toby followed behind him quietly.

The bookstore sure seemed promising enough. There were loads and loads of books. The only thing was, they needed to find _people_. The bookstore was obscenely quiet at the moment, outside of the little jingle of the bell over the door when they walked in.

Just then, they heard humming. Both boys looked around, trying to find the source.

"Vexen?" Toby asked, running into the person humming.

Pi stopped what he was doing (mid-dust, too) and looked down at the young boy.

"Hello," he said. "Though, I must inform you that I'm not actually Vexen, I'm Vexen Replica Pi."

"Pi?" Joseph asked, coming over to where Toby was.

"Joseph?" Pi asked.

"Ha!" Joseph exclaimed. "We _are _in the right universe!"

He punched the air excitedly.

"Why-ever did you wish to come here?" Pi asked.

"We're trying to see if Xehanort's still around," Joseph said.

"Are you looking for him?" Pi asked, incredulous.

"No," Joseph said. "Vexen, _your _Vexen wants to pay a visit home, but he's too scared that Xehanort's still around and is going to kill him."

"Oh, goodness, no!" Pi said. "Xehanort is very much dead. The Keyblade Wielders took care of him."

"Cool, I guess," Joseph said, already thinking of what else he had come here to do now that he knew Xehanort wasn't around anymore. "So, do you happen to know if Ienzo is still around? We actually want to see him."

"Yes! Actually!" Pi said. "You've come to just the right place. He's just upstairs. Or, at least, he should be."

Joseph and Toby exchanged excited looks.

"Told you," Joseph whispered.

Toby shrugged.

"Shall I go get him?" Pi asked.

"No need to bother," Joseph said. "I can go up there!"

"I must say, you probably shouldn't…" Pi began.

But it was too late, Joseph had already taken off towards the stairs, Toby following after him.

"Oh dear," Pi murmured. "Ienzo isn't going to be very happy."


	56. Mister Ienzo Sir

**Note from magik: **So... sorry about not being to access the chapter until roughly 10 hours after I posted it. I don't know what fanfic's problem was.

Regardless... so apparently I didn't write the beginning of the last chapter, just the end. Honestly, sometimes, the way rar and I write this stuff it looks fairly contiguous. So unless I have a distinct memory... yeah...

Anyway... As for who wrote this chapter... well... does it really matter? Just enjoy!

* * *

><p>Ienzo had stopped his current research in favor of reading through one of his favorite lexicons. It had a lot of his favorite spells in it and he was contemplating switching over to this one and just adding a few things to it. Either that, or he needed to take large portions of this lexicon and copy them into his current lexicon.<p>

Someone knocked on the door.

"Pi, is this important?" Ienzo asked.

He frowned when he heard an excited whisper, rather than Pi's voice. He couldn't make out what was said during the whisper, but he thought he caught his name…

"Sorry, Mister-Ienzo-Sir!" came a different voice—a child's voice. "I don't mean to disturb you, but I bring a message from someone who wishes to speak to you!"

Ienzo frowned. He bookmarked his page and went over to the door. He wasn't aware that _anyone _wished to speak with him. Not anyone who couldn't simply come themselves.

He opened the door. His eyes beheld two children. That was not the shocking bit, however. The shocking bit was that the older of the two boys looked strikingly like Ienzo, himself. His steely-grey hair falling into one eye, though the boy kept pushing it away. The younger of the boys bore a resemblance to Axel.

"May I ask who you are?" Ienzo asked, raising an eyebrow.

The older boy answered him. "My name is Joseph. This is my friend, Toby. The two of us came on behalf of Vexen."

"Vexen, who?" Ienzo asked.

"The real Vexen, the one who disappeared," Joseph answered.

Ienzo's brows furrowed. He pointed across the hall.

"Go in there, let's talk."

Joseph nodded and made his way over, showcasing a great amount of energy. Toby, however, moved a bit quieter and slower, as if he was afraid he would break something if he moved too fast.

The three of them went into the room Ienzo had pointed out, which just so happened to be a sitting room of sorts.

"Sit where you like," Ienzo said.

Joseph immediately went to one end of the couch. Toby sat down next to him. Ienzo sat in a wooden chair by a desk.

"You mean to tell me that Vexen is alive?" Ienzo asked. "It's been _months_ since he's been seen here."

Joseph and Toby both nodded.

"He's alive all right," Joseph answered. "He's been in our universe for quite some time now. A few months, I would guess."

Ienzo frowned. "He's been missing for much longer than that…"

"I think all the Vexen Replicas have figured out that your universe runs faster than ours," Joseph said, scrunching his face up. "I don't remember details though."

Ienzo thought for a moment. This all was logical enough.

"Vexen Replicas," he mused. "You mean to tell me you have a Replica Program in your universe as well?"

Joseph bit his lip. "Well, more or less. It's complicated. But yes, we've got a Program."

"How do you know Vexen?" Ienzo asked. "And how did you know to come here to deliver me a message from him? Why couldn't he come himself?"

"Well, Vexen showed up in our universe a few months ago, like I said," Joseph said. "Before Toby showed up, even!"

He nudged Toby in the ribs playfully. Toby rolled his eyes.

"Earlier today, or it might have been yesterday, given how time passes all wibbly-wobbly and stuff," Joseph began. "I was with Vexen in Twilight Town. Our Twilight Town, not yours. Though, I've been there too and it's nice."

"You're rambling," Toby muttered.

"Shh! I'm telling a story! Anyway, Vexen and I were in Twilight Town and this giant Heartless showed up! Vexen threw himself in front of me and he shouted your name, Ienzo. Of course, I had to ask about it because he did a completely illogical thing, something no Vexen usually does. The only Vexen who does that is 29, but he's my caretaker, so that makes sense."

Ienzo made a mental note to ask about caretakers when Joseph finished his story.

"Vexen told me that he used to take care of you, way-back-when before Xehanort happened."

Ienzo snorted. That was a _simple _way of putting things…

"Then he got all panicky and mopey because he left you behind when he came to our universe to avoid Xehanort. Then he felt all bad because he figured you were probably dead because you were a traitor too. But look! You're not dead and I can go home and tell Vexen and then he can come here and say hi and everything will be all nice and happy."

"You have such an optimistic view of life," Ienzo murmured.

Joseph shrugged. "Sometimes I do, I guess."

"Why couldn't Vexen come himself?" Ienzo repeated.

"Oh, he was too scared to come because he wasn't sure if Xehanort was still around or not."

Ienzo snorted. Sounded like Vexen, mostly worried about his own skin. Except, a long time ago… when he was in his care. The story Joseph had detailed about that Heartless in Twilight Town reminded Ienzo of a couple of cases in Hollow Bastion where it had been him and Vexen and some of those darn Unversed.

"How did you know to come here?" he asked.

"Well, I've been to this universe a couple of times before, mostly by accident, but it happens. So, I figured I could probably get myself here on purpose if I was trying hard enough. Namine, our Namine, not yours. Though, I'm sure she's pretty nice, too. I've only kind of met her. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah! Namine can form Dark Corridors to _people_, not just places. So, I figured if she could do it, I could certainly try. So I did, and it worked! Toby and I showed up just down the street."

Ienzo was impressed. Dark Corridors seemed to be able to do the same thing that star shards could: take someone to people, not just places.

"So, what do you plan to do now that you've found me?" Ienzo asked.

"Well, since Xehanort is dead and you're not," Joseph said. "We're going to go back to our universe, tell Vexen what's going on, so he can come here and talk to you! Because I know he wants to. Unless, you'd rather just come with us…?"  
>"Probably not," Ienzo said. "No offense meant. However, given the difference in how time works between the universes, it would probably be better if Vexen came here."<p>

"I think that makes sense," Joseph said, scratching his head.

"I do have another question for you," Ienzo began.

"Sure!" Joseph said.

"You mentioned something about your caretaker…"

"Oh, 29?" Joseph laughed. "He's a Vexen Replica—though you probably figured that. He looks after me, because… uh, I don't know why Master Vexen chose _him_ to look after me, though I'm glad he did—" Joseph paused then, rather suddenly. "Hang on. I came at this the wrong way." He thought for a second, and then said: "I am an experiment created by Master Vexen because he wanted to see what would happen if he combined the data of two different people. Oh, and Toby's an experiment, too."

Joseph gestured at Toby, and then pointed to himself again. "29 looks after me and keeps me out of trouble. That's what all the caretakers do… did. You can't have all those kids running around and _not_ have someone look after them." His eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Ohmygosh, Toby, I just realized, you don't have a caretaker, do you?"

Toby slowly shook his head.

"I wonder what happened to him…" Joseph said, slowly, frowning.

Toby shrugged.

"You don't know what happened to him?" Ienzo asked, a bit surprised. "But shouldn't he have been taking care of you?"

Toby shifted uncomfortably. "Well, yeah, but… the thing is… I sort of…" He swallowed. "I spent the past couple months—"

"Locked up by the Organization," Joseph finished. Toby threw him a questioning look, but Joseph ignored it. "'Cause Toby's a special brand of experiment, equipped with the abilities of a couple different Organization members. But the Organization deemed him dangerous, so they locked him up since our Replica Program was all out of whack and they couldn't do anything else with him. And since he was locked up, he didn't need anyone looking after him, so his caretaker was probably reassigned."

"I'm not dangerous!" Toby protested.

"Well, _yeah,_" Joseph replied. "But the Organization thought you were for some reason."

"Whose abilities do you have?" Ienzo asked.

"Axel's and Larxene's," Toby answered.

"Ah, I could see why the Organization might consider you dangerous, then." Ienzo turned to Joseph, moving his head so that he could _almost_ look at Joseph with both eyes, given the fact that his hair hung down over the right one. "And I take it _you _broke him out of wherever he was being held."

"What was I supposed to do? Leave him there?" Joseph looked horrified. "I'm not cruel!"

"And it wasn't at all hard to break him out?"

Joseph shook his head. "Nah. All I had to do was open a dark corridor. I mean, you'd _think_ that they'd put someone they considered dangerous in a corridor-proof room, but-"

"They probably didn't see a need to," Toby said. "I can't form dark corridors."

"Mmhmm," Ienzo said, slowly, not entirely positive if he believed this story. Then again, there were things about their universe that he obviously didn't understand, but…

"Aw, no, now you look curious!" Joseph whined. "I was trying to _avoid_ explaining all the crud that's going on in our universe! I mean, I _could_ explain it, but it'd take _forever_ and 29's going to realize I'm gone eventually, and I didn't tell anyone I was heading over here…"

"No, it's alright," Ienzo assured him. "You don't have to explain."

Joseph grinned. "Great! We need to get going, anyway," he hopped to his feet. "Vexen needs to know you're alive. So… we'll just go. I'll send Vexen over here. Expect him to be here… in, I don't know, less than a day? I'll send him over as soon as I possibly can, which might be a while for you due to the timey-whimey-ness." Joseph shrugged.

"Alright," Ienzo said.

Joseph saluted. "See ya! C'mon Toby."

He opened a dark corridor, and the two were gone.


	57. VexenVexenVexenVexenVexenVexen VexenVexe...

**Note from magik: **SUPER SORRY! I meant to have this up... yesterday... but i did the class/work thing all day. I was DESPERATELY trying to finish my paper, and then my boyfriend thought it would be a great idea to surprise me with a balloon and candy. Which, the sentiment is sweet... but I wasn't home for two hours after he thought I was going to be. (Hint, if you want to surprise me, check with one of my other friends first to see EXACTLY where I am.) Anyway, yesterday was hectic. So... posting this now.

I don't think I have anything to say. Rar will give you her comments on the blog. 99.9% sure she wrote all of this.

* * *

><p>"Vexen! Veexeennn!"<p>

Vexen glanced up from what he was doing (checking through the security footage, though he hadn't found anything). There was a loud _thud_ as someone hit the doorframe. He frowned, worried, but saw that it was only Joseph, using the doorframe to bring himself to a halt.

"If- I had known-" Joseph gasped, bent over, breathing hard. "That you- would- be up here-" He held up his hand, telling Vexen to wait. "Can't breathe."

"Did you run all the way up here?" Vexen asked, raising his eyebrows with amusement.

Joseph just nodded.

"Why didn't you use a dark corridor?"

"That's- what- I was trying to say!"

Vexen chuckled. "And why are you looking for me?" he asked.

"We find him?" Toby asked, coming around the corner at a much slower pace.

"Hold! On!" Joseph gasped. "Let me- catch my breath!"

Toby smirked. "That's why _I_ didn't run," he said.

Joseph shot a glare over at him, but didn't say anything. When he finally caught his breath, he broke out into a grin. "He's alive," he informed Vexen, plainly.

"Who?" Vexen asked, though almost need not to.

"Who do you think?" Joseph asked, his grin widening.

"Ienzo," Vexen breathed.

"See! I told you!" Joseph said. "And you were all worried that he'd be dead. Well, he's not. He's alive, and well, and running a bookstore in Hollow Bastion. And Xehanort's dead, and been dead for a while, so you can go say hi to Ienzo now and stop being all… mopey."

"I wasn't-" Vexen began, but paused, realizing something else. "Wait a minute, you went to the other universe!"

"So?" Joseph asked. "We were there like, not even an hour. And, since time runs faster there, we were gone from here for only a couple minutes. Seventeen minutes, I'd bet." He nodded confidently. "And if 29 asks where I've been, and finds out that I've been in another universe, I will tell him that I was trying out if their Twilight Town's ice cream is better or worse than the ice cream from our Twilight Town. I've tried, and it's worse." He nudged Toby in the ribs, then, grinning at him. "See? He'll never find out!"

"Never find out _what?_" 29 asked from behind him.

Joseph paled. Toby scooted out of the way and for the most part out of sight. Vexen wasn't sure if he should laugh at 29's impeccable timing, or if he should feel sorry for Joseph.

"Uh…" Joseph said slowly. He cast a hesitant glance up at 29. "That depends, what all did you hear me say?"

"I heard you say that you were in another universe," 29 replied.

"Well, like I said, I wanted to see if their ice cream was better than ours. It isn't! How long was I gone, by the way?"

"Sixteen minutes," 29 said.

Joseph snapped his fingers. "Darn. So close! But I was only gone sixteen minutes! It's not like you _really_ need to be worried, right?" He grinned.

"Nice try."

Joseph sighed. "Yeah, fine, I get it, I'm in trouble."

29 led Joseph off.

Toby watched them go, not saying anything, like he feared if he was noticed he'd be in trouble too. After a moment, he yawned. "I'm gonna go back to my nap…" he said, slowly, and started off.

Vexen stared at the doorway, unsure what to do now. Ienzo was alive. Should he go see him? Joseph would be mad if he didn't…

"Just one second! I need to tell Vexen-"

"Joseph!"

Joseph poked his head back into the room. "Bookstore. He runs a bookstore. I'd form a dark corridor for you or something, but I'm in tro—I'm coming!" He was off again before 29 was forced to come get him.

"Bookstore…" Vexen said slowly, and smiled. He wasn't at all surprised. He slowly opened a dark corridor, took a deep breath, and then stepped through.

xxx

He emerged in Hollow Bastion. He didn't have to do much searching to figure out if he was in the right universe. He'd lived here for most of his life. He knew this was the right Hollow Bastion. However, given all the changes in the past… years, he couldn't remember where the bookstore was. Had there even _been_ a bookstore before Ienzo set one up?

"Excuse me, miss," Vexen said, stopping a lady passing by. "Could you possibly tell me where I might find a bookstore?"

She stared at him like he was crazy, but said: "Just around the corner. Right across from the Art Store."

"Thank you," Vexen said, and started in that direction.

It didn't take him long to find the bookstore. Like he had been told, it was just around the corner. He paused outside it, suddenly feeling slightly… nervous? Oh, what was wrong with him? He shook his head and pushed the door open.

"A customer!" someone called, sounding excited.

Vexen frowned. That sounded a lot like—

"Wait a minute, Master Vexen?"

He turned and, sure enough, there was one of his Replicas.

"Uhm, yes," he found himself saying. He made a face. Oh, which Replica was this one? He should know… He should know…

"Pi, sir," the Vexen Replica said.

Ah, right! Pi had been the one who'd first discovered the parallel universe. Was Vexen surprised that Pi had apparently started helping Ienzo with his bookstore? Slightly. Did he care? Not really.

"You're here awfully early," Pi said, after a moment.

"What?"

"Joseph said it might be a while before you got here," Pi explained. "But it's only been an hour or so since he left."

"Oh," Vexen said slowly. "I left shortly after he spoke to me. Is this a bad time?"

Pi quickly shook his head. "No, I was just… mentioning it. Are things going well in the other universe?"

"For the most part, yes."

"Is that whole Rebellion thing still going on?"

"Yes." Vexen sighed. "Listen, Pi, can I speak with Ienzo?" He felt slightly bad for cutting the conversation short, but he really didn't want to talk about how the Rebellion was going.

Pi nodded. "He's upstairs. Do you want me to tell him that you're coming? Though, he is expecting you, since Joseph said he'd be sending you over."

Vexen thought about it for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, I think I'll just go up there myself." He paused. "Unless, of course, that's a problem."

"It shouldn't be, sir," Pi said. "Like I said, he is expecting you."

Vexen only nodded, and slowly made his way up the stairs. He paused once he reached the top, unsure where exactly Ienzo would be. He hadn't asked… Oh well, all the doors were open except one, and when he went to examine the closed door, he saw a "do not disturb" sign hung on it, printed in handwriting that he immediately recognized as Ienzo's.

He knocked on the door. "Ienzo?" he called, tentatively.

There was a long pause, long enough that he considered knocking a second time. But, then, he heard the faint sound of a book closing, followed by the sound of someone getting to their feet. The door opened.

Ienzo stood in the doorway, and stared for a second.

"Vexen," he said, finally, by way of greeting. He paused. "Unless it's… Even, now?"

_Even. _Now that was a name he hadn't heard in a while. Vexen swallowed, and then shook his head. "No, it's still-" He laughed slightly. "I couldn't change my name if I wanted too. They'd all still call me 'Vexen' in the other universe."

He wasn't positive, but he thought he saw a smile cross Ienzo's face.

"Parallel universe, huh?" Ienzo asked, a touch of humor in his voice.

Vexen nodded.

"I really shouldn't be surprised by the things you do, anymore," Ienzo sighed. "But why a parallel universe? How did you even discover it?"

"Pi did, actually," Vexen said. "And once he reported it to me-"

"You decided to go there to escape Xehanort," Ienzo finished.

"Well, yes," Vexen admitted. Of course escaping Xehanort was one of the reasons he went over to that universe. But there was more to it than that, and Ienzo deserved to know. "But I also went, because… Well, it turned out that my Riku Replica ended up in that universe."

"Really?"

Ienzo seemed intrigued and… Vexen couldn't quite distinguish the other emotion. Nor could he distinguish quite what the look on Ienzo's face was. Contemplation, maybe? If it was any other expression besides that, it was well masked. Vexen almost wished he knew what Ienzo was thinking, and considered asking, when Ienzo said:

"There really isn't any sense standing here in the hallway and talking." Ienzo then slipped past Vexen and headed into a room across the hall. Vexen understood that he was meant to follow, and did so.

Ienzo led them to what appeared to be a sitting room. After being told to sit wherever he wished, Vexen made himself comfortable on one end of the couch. Ienzo sat at the other end of the couch.

"Are you-" Vexen began, but paused. "How have you been?" he asked, instead.

Ienzo saw right through it.

"I'm fine, Vexen. Why are you so worried about me, all of a sudden?"

Vexen sighed. "I just… You've met Joseph, haven't you?"

"Yes."

"Then you've seen how much he looks like you."

Ienzo nodded. "The resemblance is almost uncanny. But what else would you expect from a Replica who has some of my data? Or, the other universe's Zexion's data. He does have some of the other universe's Zexion's data, does he not?"

"I'd assume so," Vexen said. "Though, he must have more data than that in him. He acts nothing like you—and I expect nothing like that universe's Zexion, though I have not met him. Joseph is a lot more…" He trailed off, searching for the right word.

"Hyper," Ienzo said.

"I was going to say _energetic,_" Vexen said. "But he's definitely hyper, too. Anyway, we were in Twilight Town, and-"

"He told me," Ienzo interrupted, stopping him there. "You shouted my name before throwing yourself in front of him."

Vexen grimaced. Why did Joseph have to mention _that_ detail? "It wasn't… quite like…" but he stopped. There was no use fussing over details. "He has the capacity to sound _exactly_ like you. You don't notice it, because he's almost always speaking a mile a minute, but…" He shook his head, helplessly. There was no use trying to explain himself, either. He couldn't to Joseph. He couldn't to Ienzo. "I don't know…"

"He reminded you of me," Ienzo said. "And your brain confused the two of us."

Vexen nodded. He only wished he could've come up with a better way to put it.

"How, may I ask, did that lead to you coming and seeing me?"

"Joseph decided I missed you," Vexen explained. "And insisted I go see you."

"Except you were worried about Xehanort being alive and still wishing to kill you," Ienzo said.

"I was worried he killed you," Vexen replied. He was silent for a moment, before adding: "I'm sure Joseph mentioned that I didn't come myself because of Xehanort—though he wasn't supposed to come here, either. Joseph, that is—but, really, I just…" He paused. "I didn't want to find that you had been killed."

"Clearly, I am alive."

"And it still amazes me. How…?"

_…did you survive? …did you escape? …did Xehanort not kill you?_

But, somehow, Vexen was incapable of asking any of those.

Thankfully, Ienzo understood the unasked question.

"Bra-" Ienzo paused, blinked a few times. "Xigbar let me go."

Vexen stared. "_Xigbar_?"

Ienzo nodded.

"Has he gone soft?"

"I don't know," Ienzo replied with a shrug. "But I wasn't going to pass up my chance to escape."

"Surely Xehanort must've known—" Vexen began.

"That I was alive?" Ienzo finished. "Xigbar probably told him that I was dead, and would Xehanort disbelieve him? Unlikely. Besides, I hid where Xehanort wouldn't find me—even if he was looking—right under his nose."

Vexen started to ask another question, but Ienzo stopped him.

"Enough about me. You've been living in a parallel universe."

Vexen nodded. "Well, yes," he said. "I could come back here, though, if I'm needed. I'm not entirely useful in the other universe… I'm sure no one would protest if I wished to return. Well, Joseph would, but—"

"What about your Riku Replica?" Ienzo interrupted.

Vexen made a face. "He certainly wouldn't miss me. He'd probably glad that I left; he's not fond of—oh." He stopped, now that he realized the true meaning of Ienzo's question. Ienzo wasn't asking what Riku would think; he was asking if Vexen really wished to leave him.

Vexen sighed and rubbed his head.

"I… I suppose I wouldn't necessarily want to leave," he admitted. "But if I need to come back here…"

"It's fine, Vexen." Ienzo chuckled slightly. "If you wish to stay in the other universe, then you are certainly free to do so."

"Are you sure? Are there any problems over here?"

"Just some minor Darkness problems," Ienzo said. "Nothing Sora and his friends can't handle. What about the other universe? How are things over there?"

Vexen couldn't help but groan slightly.

"That bad?"

"Well…" Vexen rubbed his head, trying to think of how to put it. Ienzo would want details, but it would be best to start with the basics, would it not? But what were the basics? The Replica Program… Saix… "The Replica Program over there is extensive—there are about fifty Replicas in Castle Oblivion alone, and I'm not sure how many are in the World that Never Was. And all those Replicas are… at war, as Joseph likes to put it.

"See, the Replica Program—from what I'm told—was thrown into chaos when the Vexen of their universe died. Eventually, the Program was handed to Saix. And Saix… well, isn't necessarily kind to Replicas, and many Rebelled. I've been caught in the middle of said Rebellion."

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. "Have you, now?"

Vexen shrugged. An explanation adequate to this question wasn't hard to find—it only took three words—but he did hesitate for a brief second before saying them. "My Riku Replica."

"Ah." Ienzo folded his arms across his chest. "Is he leading the rebellion?"

"Yes and no…" Vexen said, slowly. "From my understanding, he's not leading it by choice. I believe they just declared him leader, and he just gave up on arguing with them."

"Any reason why they declared him leader?"

"I wasn't there when it happened," Vexen said. "But it might have something to do with the fact that he apparently killed a third of the Organization in two days."

"So they want him to get rid of Saix for them," Ienzo said.

"No one's mentioned such a thing, but I wouldn't be surprised if they did."


	58. Master of Illusions

**Poster's Note: (magik): **Erm... well... late ish again. I should have gotten this up yesterday... but I didn't. Murrr.

* * *

><p>"What's Sora like, in that universe, then, if your Riku Replica's the one who's been dealing with the Organization?" Ienzo asked, after a moment.<p>

"He's a lot less…" Vexen began, but didn't quite know where he planned to go with that, so settled instead for: "He's different."

The look on Ienzo's face clearly told Vexen that he was already aware of this.

"Well, he-" Vexen sighed. "I've only met him briefly, but he's been struggling with the darkness, if I'm not mistaken."

"Has he now?"

"You don't seem very surprised…" Vexen said, slowly.

"Should I be?" Ienzo replied.

"I was…" Vexen answered. "Sora never struck me as one to be tempted by the darkness."

"There are differences between universes, are there not?" Ienzo said with a shrug. "The Replica Program over there is obviously different; I don't see why Sora can't be."

Vexen sighed. Ienzo had him there.

"Speaking of the Replica Program," Ienzo continued. "How many Replicas did you say there were?"

"If there are as many Replicas in the World that Never Was as there are in Castle Oblivion, nearly a hundred."

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. "All of Vexen?"

Vexen couldn't help but laugh. He tried to contain his laughter as quickly as possible, though, and apologized as soon as he had it under control. "No," he said. "Though I'd bet about a third of them are of him."

"Who else are there Replicas of?"

"Zexion, Marluxia, and… Larxene." Vexen grimaced slightly at the thought.

Ienzo grimaced in sympathy. "One Larxene is bad enough…"

"I know!" Vexen said. "I mean, the Replicas of her aren't terrible—but I don't understand why they needed to make so many of them. What use are they?"

"How many of them are there?" Ienzo asked.

"I assume twenty-six," Vexen replied. "One for each letter of the alphabet, since that's what they're classified by. The latest in the set I've seen is Q, though, and I suppose there could be some that failed." He paused. "Though, actually, I'm not sure if the Vexen of that universe labeled failed Replicas. I know a Vexen Replica who's No. 2. And I doubt it's possible to get the Replication process down on the first or second try. It took me eighteen before I got it right."

"I don't know," Ienzo said. "But I suppose you're probably right."

"I'll have to ask." Vexen sighed. "Where was I? Before that side tangent?"

"Larxene Replicas."

Vexen nodded. "Right. I don't see what purpose they serve! The Vexen Replicas I get; they were most likely created to help maintain the Program. The Zexion Replicas were probably created for similar reasons. The Marluxia Replicas are fighters, as are the Lexaeus Replicas—"

"There are Lexaeus Replicas?" Ienzo interrupted.

"Yes. Did I not mention them?"

Ienzo shook his head.

Vexen grimaced. "Sorry. They must've slipped my mind; though it's not like I see very many of them. I don't think more than a few were made: I've only seen two."

"Any other Replicas that slipped your mind?" Ienzo asked.

Vexen thought for a moment. "I don't think… wait! There's one of Xigbar. Just one."

"Is that all?"

Vexen nodded, positive this time. "Yes. Of the Organization members, at least."

"There are Replicas of non-Organization members?"

"There was one of Sora that became Roxas," Vexen said. "And Namine's a Replica, in that universe. And, of course, there's Joseph and Toby."

Ienzo's eyes lit up. "I meant to ask Joseph and Toby about this, but they left before I had a chance," he said. "Are there any other 'experiments' like them?"

Vexen paused a second before replying. "No," he said, slowly. "I'm told that there used to be, but I've never seen any of them. They were all gone before I got there. All but Joseph and Toby, of course."

"What happened to the others?"

Vexen took a deep breath. "I mentioned Saix took charge of the Replica Program, did I not?" Ienzo nodded, and he continued: "Well, Saix deemed the Experiments… useless…"

"And got rid of them?" Ienzo finished.

Vexen nodded solemnly. "That's what I'm told, anyway."

"But Joseph…?"

"29 takes his job as Joseph's caretaker very seriously," Vexen answered before Ienzo could finish the question.

"And Toby?"

"I'm… not actually sure how he survived," Vexen said. He believed he remembered Joseph explaining something about it, but he couldn't quite remember _what_ Joseph had said.

Ienzo frowned. He seemed suspicious of something, now. "Joseph told me that Toby was locked up because the Organization thought he was dangerous," he stated, plainly.

Vexen frowned, too. That certainly wasn't what Joseph had said to him. He'd have remembered that. "Did he?" he asked, slowly, confused. Why would Joseph lie to Ienzo?

"Were you not aware of this?"

"Well, I—" Vexen began, but faltered. Saying he was would be lying. Saying he wasn't would probably tip Ienzo off to the fact Joseph had been lying. Though, from the sounds of it, Ienzo was already aware of this.

"He was lying, wasn't he?" Ienzo said, when Vexen didn't say any more.

Exactly.

"I believe so, yes," Vexen said.

Ienzo nodded. "I thought he might be," he explained. "Though, I must say, he's an impressive liar. It was Toby's confusion that gave him away, not the lies themselves, and certainly not any of Joseph's own actions. Joseph was completely calm, and even if his story was far-fetched, he didn't hesitate when I asked for clarification. He had answers ready immediately, and the answers made decent sense."

Vexen chuckled. "And you're surprised?"

"Hmm?"

"Does the title 'Master of Illusions' not ring a bell?"

Ienzo laughed, now. "True," he said. "Illusions are really just lies, after all." He paused, then. "So you aren't sure how Toby survived?"

Vexen shook his head. "No. But I know it's probably not what Joseph told you."

"I highly doubt it's what Joseph told me," Ienzo said. "But, anyway… did you mention a _Rebellion_ that was happening?"

"What about it?"

"How long has it been going on?"

Vexen took a second to count. It had already begun by the time he had arrived in the other universe, had it not? So then… "A few months, at least," he said. "Though I don't believe it was quite the 'war' Joseph considers it until a month or so ago."

"And the Organization hasn't done anything about it?"

"About the Rebellion?" Vexen shook his head. "They apparently don't find it worth their time. Though, it's not like the Rebellion has done much more than keep them out of Castle Oblivion and prevent them from creating any new Replicas."

Ienzo frowned. "But how is it a 'war' if the Organization isn't interfering at all?"

"Saix is 'interfering'. Not the Organization," Vexen explained.

"There's a difference?" Ienzo sounded a bit bemused at the thought.

"There seems to be," Vexen said. He then chuckled slightly. "Though, the entire time I've been there, I haven't even seen Saix himself, merely the Replicas he sends in his stead."

"Saix never has liked doing the work himself," Ienzo said, smiling. "Clearly, that does not change across universes. But what is the Rebellion even doing? How is all this even considered a war?"

"Joseph's the only one who considers it a war," Vexen reminded Ienzo, simply. "But, I suppose, he considers it one because we spend nearly every day fighting. Saix sends a group of Replicas every other day or so to Castle Oblivion, in hopes to retrieve the part of the Replica Program that the Rebellion has. We have to fight them off."

"And you fight?"

"Me?" Vexen grimaced. "I'm usually near the Main Computer. Though I'm surprised no one's complained about that. I'm not sure if I'm really who you'd want as a last line of defense to protect the computer. I'm almost surprised they don't force Riku to protect the computer. Actually—" He paused, considered that a moment more. "No, I understand why he's among the first line of defense. If he's out there, the less people will get hurt on our side."

"Why is that?" Ienzo asked.

"Because he's… very quick to get rid of the Replicas that Saix sends. He's very quick to kill…" Vexen chuckled then, bitterly. "My own little weapon…" He sighed. Riku was created mainly from the Real Riku's battle data. Born out of battle. It was no wonder he found it so easy to fight.

Could Vexen blame himself for Riku's tendency to… kill, and kill swiftly? Maybe. He didn't remember actually Programming Riku that way, but there was a lot he didn't remember about Programming Riku. He didn't remember all of the details, that was for sure. It'd been such a long time ago…

"Weapon?" Ienzo's voice was filled with a cross between confusion and concern. "Were you—?"

"No," Vexen interrupted. No. He hadn't… "I didn't—" he tried to tell Ienzo, but he couldn't form the sentence. He hadn't created Riku with that intent in mind. Well… not the intent to use him to kill, anyway. He'd wanted to impress—or perhaps _intimidate _was the right word—Marluxia. Put the bothersome neophyte in his place. Marluxia was plotting to overthrow the Organization, anyway; what harm was it if he used his Riku Replica to stop the plot?

Not that that idea had lasted long, of course. He'd been convinced that Riku needed to be Rewritten…

What was he even thinking? That the Rewrite would pit his Riku against Sora, and thus delay him? That it would be an interesting experiment? He couldn't remember. But why had he even listened to Larxene? The thought made him want to bang his head against the wall. How could he, who prided himself with being such a brilliant academic, have been so stupid? The Rewrite did nothing more than further Marluxia's plot. He should've realized that the moment Larxene first mentioned it!

"Vexen?"

Vexen turned to Ienzo, slowly. He let out a long breath. "Enough about the other universe," he said, waving the matter aside. "Tell me how things are going over here."

Ienzo remained silent for a moment, studying him, as if he were debating on whether or not to press the previous matter any further, despite Vexen's aversion to doing so. Much to Vexen's relief, he decided not to, and said: "Well, there isn't anything incredibly interesting occurring in this universe. There are a few darkness problems, as I have previously mentioned, but otherwise… nothing."

Of course. Nothing to talk about.

Vexen grimaced before asking: "So what have you been doing, then?"

"Running this bookstore," Ienzo replied. "What about you? What do you spend your spare time doing?"

"Research," Vexen said, simply.

Ienzo didn't seem surprised. "And what are you researching?"

"Well… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't studying my Riku Replica, so, in a way, I'm researching him," Vexen said. "I'm also studying the Namine of that universe, who is a Replica, which I believe I mentioned… and I'm studying the relationship between my Riku and that Namine. I was _going_ to start research on Joseph and Toby—and the other Experiments, to an extent—but that hasn't gotten far." He sighed. "Though, what I really need to do is figure out a better way to organize my research notes. They've all just been going in my pocket…"

"I think I can help you with that. Hold on a second." Ienzo got to his feet and left the room. He returned a few minutes later, a three ring binder in hand, which he promptly handed to Vexen. "Will that do?" he asked.

Vexen nodded. Any form of organization was preferable to keeping his notes in his pockets. He fished his notes out and started sorting through them. "You don't mind if I do this now, do you?" he asked, as Ienzo sat back down on the couch.

Ienzo shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all. Can I still talk to you while you organize, though? Or do I have to wait?"

"No, I don't see why I won't be able to multi-task," Vexen said. "What was it you wanted to ask? Or say?"

"You did say that Namine was a Replica in your universe, did you not?"

"Yes. Twice I believe." Vexen frowned at his notes. He appeared to be missing one. He distinctly remembered writing a report about Riku's possible feelings for Namine. Well—he'd written several of those by now, but there was one particular one he was looking for, and it was missing. Where had it gone?

"But how is that possible?" Ienzo asked. "How can there be a Replica of someone who otherwise does not exist?"

"She was crafted entirely from Riku's memories," Vexen explained as he searched his pockets for his missing note. They were empty. He started searching through his notes again, in case he missed it. "At least, I think that's what it is. I distinctly remember someone mentioning that she was built from the data in Riku's memories. I'm not sure if there was any supplement"

"But… memories are a very unstable form of data to work with," Ienzo said. "You can't tell me that their Replica Program produced a completely stable Replica out of memories alone."

Vexen could still not locate the note he was looking for. Blasted thing. Where'd it go? "She's stable enough to function, that is for sure," he said, as he started flipping through his notebook. Did he write it in—aha! There it was. Now that he had found it, he could get back to—

Wait a minute.

Namine.

Stable Replica.

Unstable memories.

Memory meltdowns.

Those weren't caused by an instability, were they? Was that really all this was?

It was entirely possible, but the only way to be sure was to actually _check_ her data—something that they needed full access to the Program to do, if he'd been told correctly. Still, it was something to keep in mind.

"The Replica Program over there seems to be very successful," Ienzo said, drawing him from his thoughts.

Vexen nodded. "They seem to have slightly more advanced technology, though," he said. "So I assume their Program's success finds its roots in that. But I'm not positive." He placed the next note in a separate section of the binder; this one was about Toby, and not Riku. "I have to admit, though, their Replica Program never ceases to amaze me. Not only did they successfully create a fairly stable Replica purely from memories, they've also created around a hundred Replicas—each with their own distinct personality! And the Experiments, too! Combining data from multiple people—why didn't I think of that?"

"You didn't have much time to develop the Replica Program?" Ienzo suggested.

"I know that," Vexen said. "But the thought didn't even occur to me!" He sighed. "Sometimes, I wish I could speak with Master Vex-" He paused, frowned. Wait a minute…

Ienzo raised his eyebrows.

Vexen laughed and shook his head. "You can tell I spend my days surrounded by Replicas! But I mean the Vexen of their universe. I wish I could ask him about their Replica Program—no one is going to know it better than him."

"He might come back, you know," Ienzo said. "_You_ certainly did."

"I suppose that's true…" Vexen said, slowly, as he turned the thought over in his mind. He decided he'd think about that later, and returned his attention to organizing his notes.


	59. Are you done panicking?

**Note from magik: **Oh hey look! Another chapter! I'm not even going to waste time apologizing for the wait... all I seem to do is homework. Moving on! Enjoy the chapter!

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><p>During the time in which it took for him to finish organizing his notes, Vexen told Ienzo all he could about what was going on in the other universe—everything from the Organization (which he surprisingly knew little about) to Riku's relationship with Namine (which he didn't go into detail on, for fear of boring Ienzo). In return, Ienzo explained a bit about what was going on in this universe, though it wasn't much. However, Vexen did learn that Kairi and Namine (along with Sora and Roxas) no longer shared a body—though this was something he was already aware of, for the most part. 42 had been working on a way to separate them, and given the way time flowed, it seemed very unlikely that they had yet to be separated. Vexen had asked purely for clarification's sake.<p>

"So what happened to everyone else from the Organization?" Vexen asked, now, as he settled back into his seat on the couch.

"Xehanort's dead, as you know," Ienzo said. "And Xigbar… I actually think he's still alive." He made a face. "Xaldin's gone…" Ienzo paused, and was silent for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet. "Lexaeus is… he's gone…"

"Xehanort?" Vexen asked, his voice just as quiet.

The name alone asked a million questions.

Ienzo merely nodded in response, a bit stiffly.

Vexen closed his eyes for a brief second. Oh Lexaeus…

"Saix is dead," Ienzo continued. "Axel survived. No surprise there." He chuckled slightly, though it was hollow. "Demyx… started a band and is traveling the Worlds. If I'm correct… Luxord is his manager."

Vexen raised his eyebrows at that. Though, this news was as little of a surprise as Axel being alive was. He couldn't help but wonder if trusting Luxord with munny was a good idea, though… He'd blow it on gambling—then again, knowing Luxord, he'd probably _gain_ more munny gambling than he would lose.

Ienzo was still talking: "I have reason to believe Marluxia and Larxene are still alive, though I haven't seen either—" he paused. "Are you all right?" he asked, frowning at Vexen.

Vexen was shaking. At the mention of Larxene, it was like his stomach was turned inside-out. "She's still alive?" he asked, voice cracking slightly. He'd been dreading that news, though he hadn't realized it until now. Terror was clawing at his chest; not because of her, but because of what she might do to—

Was that _anger_ he was feeling, along with the terror?

"Larxene?" Ienzo spoke slowly, concerned. "She came back like the rest of us, and—what is wrong?"

Vexen slowly gripped the arm of the couch, trying to steady himself. It didn't do much good. "I'm… angry," he said. "It's been a while since I've felt anger. I've felt frustration, yes, and annoyance, certainly. Anger is like a mix between the two, but much, _much_ stronger."

"You're analyzing your emotions, Vexen," Ienzo stated, plainly.

"Yes, I- I just…" he faltered. "I don't want to admit I'm angry at her," he said, finally, voice quiet.

"Why not?" Ienzo was surprisingly calm. Well, not surprisingly. This was just like him. Completely calm; a perfect contrast to the turmoil currently raging in Vexen's heart. "It's Larxene. You've never liked her."

"But this—" Vexen swallowed. "This is a different kind of anger. I'm… scared, along with the anger."

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. "Scared of her?"

"Of course not!" Vexen snapped. He turned away. "I'm scared- scared of what she might do to—" He caught himself, shaking his head.

"To your Riku?" Ienzo finished.

"You know?"

"I was there…"

"Right." Vexen had grown so used to him and Riku being the only two who knew of such things that he'd forgotten. He sighed, and then frowned. The air around him was… cold. He grimaced, knowing very well that was his own fault, and started focusing on getting himself calmed down.

"Vexen?" Ienzo said.

"I know. I'm working on it…"

_Emotions are such funny things, _he thought to himself with a nervous laugh. _One mention of Larxene, and I suddenly can't control myself._

"And the couch?" Ienzo asked.

Vexen cringed and slowly moved his hand away from the couch. After a second he glanced down, though he had a feeling he knew what he would find there. Sure enough, the arm of couch was coated with a thin layer of ice.

"I'll… do something about it before it melts," he assured Ienzo, rubbing his head.

"Has this really got you _that_ worked up?" Ienzo seemed slightly amused by all this.

Vexen ignored the amusement. "I just…" he said, sighing. "I don't want her to—" No. It was more than that. He tensed, hands clenching into fists. "I'd do anything to make sure she does not touch him, does not harm him, does not go anywhere near him again!"

The anger that caused the outburst quickly faded and was replaced by embarrassment. Vexen buried his face in his hands, kneading his forehead. What was with him, lately? First he was throwing himself in front of Joseph; now he was making hasty declarations about wanting to keep Riku safe.

"Vexen," Ienzo said. He was still perfectly calm. "He's in another universe. What are the chances of her finding him?"

Vexen sighed. "Slim," he replied, slowly.

"And the chances of her even caring enough to go looking for him?"

"Highly unlikely."

"See? There is nothing to worry about."

Vexen took a deep breath, and nodded. Ienzo was right. Riku was safe. He took a few more calming breaths, then placed his hand back on the arm of the couch, pulling the ice beneath his fingertips back into himself.

"I'm sorry," he told Ienzo. "I've been acting—"

"Like you always have," Ienzo interrupted. "There's no apology needed." He chuckled slightly. "Are you done panicking, then?"

Vexen found himself smiling, too. "For now," he replied.

Ienzo was about to say something more, but a large _clunk_ resounded from downstairs. There was a brief pause, and then several more _clunks_ followed. Vexen raised his eyebrows. It sounded like a stack of books just fell over.

"Pi?" Ienzo called, warily.

"Aw nuts!" someone who was certainly not Pi whined. Vexen groaned.

"Joseph."

Ienzo was already on his way down the stairs. Vexen paused only to shove the binder with his notes in it into his pocket, grateful that the pockets of Organization Cloaks were practically endless.

Downstairs they found Joseph and Pi arguing about the _correct_ way to put the books where they belonged. Joseph _swore_ he remembered how they went before he'd knocked them down, but given Pi's protests, he obviously didn't.

"What are you doing here?" Vexen asked, frowning at Joseph.

Joseph glanced over at him, misjudging where he was placing the book in doing so. He ended up dropping the book, which fell to the floor with another _clunk_. Pi cringed and quickly picked up the dropped book, before shooing Joseph away and restacking the books himself.

"I came to make sure things were going alright!" Joseph told Vexen, grinning.

"Weren't you in trouble?"

Joseph's grin faltered. "Well, uh… As long as I go home in the next few minutes, 29 shouldn't notice I'm gone." He shrugged. "I mean, three minutes here is about a minute there so… unless 29 decides to come check on me, like, _now_… Which he shouldn't! He just left."

"Right." Vexen made a mental note to tell 29, when he did find out (because he would find out), that he had played no part in this. "Is Toby here?"

Joseph shook his head. "He was still napping, and there wasn't enough time to wake him up if I wanted to leave before 29 noticed."

Good, Vexen supposed. That was one less child to deal with. Now he just had to deal with Joseph.

"Well," he said, slowly. "Everything's fine, so shouldn't you be heading back?"

"Not immediately," Joseph replied. "Given the time difference, I could spend at least five minutes here before it became an issue." He frowned, then started drawing with his finger in the air—it appeared he was working out a division problem. "Yeah, five minutes at least, and a good fifteen minutes before I'm stretching it." He seemed proud of himself.

"Regardless, Joseph, shouldn't you leave now?" Vexen asked, trying to reason with the boy. "So that you _definitely_ don't get in trouble."

Joseph stared. "I just explained that all. 29 won't notice I'm gone. Did you miss that?"

"I think," Ienzo said. "What Vexen was _trying_ to say, is that you should go home just to be safe. On the off chance that 29 _does_ come to check on you, and finds you missing."

"But that'd take all the fun out of it!"

Vexen and Ienzo exchanged glances.

Vexen sighed and slowly made his way over to Joseph. Maybe he should come at this from a different angle. "Ienzo and I were talking," he said in a hushed voice.

"I'm not stopping you!" Joseph replied, his voice equally as hushed. "You can get back to that—don't mind me!"

Vexen grimaced. Or that could _not_ work. "It's just, it's not like you absolutely _need_ to be here," he tried.

"Well… no, but… hey!" Joseph lit up all of a sudden. "Maybe I could help! Explain things! I'm sure Ienzo wants to know _everything_ about what's going on in our universe."

"I've already explained everything," Vexen said.

To his surprise, Joseph's response was shock, and not disappointment or a more likely reaction. "You have?" Joseph asked. "Have you _seriously_ been here that long?"

"What… are you talking about?"

"Oh," Joseph laughed slightly. "Well, it's just that everything going on in our universe is all… complicated. Ridiculously complicated. Like, if someone turned it into a book, I bet it'd be as big as this one." He pulled a fairly large book off the closest shelf, nodding certainly. He flipped through its pages and said: "Five hundred pages. Or longer." He nodded again and put the book back. "There's no way you could've explained _all_ of it!"

Vexen stared, dumbfounded.

"I… got the most important bits," he said.

"Well-" Joseph began, but then paused, his eyes firmly fixed on something behind Vexen. "Ienzo?" he called, sounding as if he was suppressing some emotion. "There _are_ supposed to be Heartless here that look like _that_, right?"


	60. But I'd MISS you!

**Note from magik: **Well, last chapter here. I won't disappear entirely, but I can tell you I don't have anything new to post. (I haven't even had time to revise my own novel!) Well, most of that is because papers for classes are coming due for the midterm and I've been working on my stories for my creative writing class. Revising that has to take precedence because it's for a grade and I really do want to graduate in the next year here and then I also have to have a second story written... so... yeah... Spring Break can't come fast enough!

**Note from rar: **Great, now that we're done with this Can't Escape sequence, we can move on to Dead Inside! (in other words, I've updated, lol)

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><p>Vexen turned around, and was glad to find that the Heartless weren't in the immediate vicinity. They were outside—Joseph had spotted them through the window. The Heartless, however, were nothing like he had ever seen before. They were similar to Neoshadows, but similar to Possessors in the very same way. He studied them a moment longer, but didn't see the Emblem on any of them; they were Pureblood.<p>

"Yes," Ienzo said. "Those Heartless have become common around here for some reason." He was moving towards the door as he spoke. "Vexen? Do you mind helping me get rid of them before they cause any damage?"

"Uhm." Vexen blinked a few times, not used to being asked such a question. "Yes, certainly." He paused, glancing back at Joseph. "Will we need Pi's help?"

"I suppose not," Ienzo replied, slowly.

"I wasn't programmed for fighting," Pi added.

"Right, then you can keep an eye on Joseph," Vexen said. "Make sure he stays out of trouble, and out of harm's way. 29 would kill me if he got hurt."

Pi agreed, seeming actually happy about this arrangement. Vexen figured he was just glad to have an excuse not to fight. Joseph didn't seem nearly as happy about the arrangement, but Vexen ignored him and followed Ienzo outside.

"What kind of Heartless are these?" Vexen asked, as he summoned his shield.

"They're called Poolers," Ienzo replied, as he paged through his lexicon.

"Poolers?"

"Yuffie named them," Ienzo said, as if that alone was explanation. Vexen wasn't quite sure who Yuffie was—the name sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember actually _meeting_ anyone by that name—so it didn't suffice as an explanation for him. Thankfully, Ienzo noticed his confusion and explained further: "See? Their main attack is forming a pool of darkness beneath their victim that will send said victim to the Realm of Darkness. Watch your step, by the way."

Vexen quickly moved away from one of the pools that was forming near to him. The pool didn't seem awfully large, but he figured that the Heartless were capable of making them as large as need be. If they weren't, then they wouldn't be such a threat.

"Remind me again, who Yuffie is," he said, encasing one of the Poolers in a block of ice. He smiled slightly; he'd always enjoyed doing that.

Ienzo finished his attack—was that an attack he'd stolen from Riku?—and turned to Vexen. "A girl who lives here…" he said, sounding maybe a bit confused. It was hard to read other's emotions while in battle, though. Too many other things going on.

"Should I know her?" Vexen asked, smashing the encased-in-ice Pooler with his shield. That shattered the ice, and did a decent amount of damage to the Pooler.

"She's part of Hollow Bastion's Restoration Committee," Ienzo answered, directing his attention to attacking another Pooler. "But… I suppose you weren't around here long enough to meet any of them."

"I don't believe I was," Vexen agreed. He dealt another blow to the Pooler he was dealing with, killing it. They didn't appear to be very strong; no stronger than your average Heartless, anyway. Why exactly were they a—ah. He had made to attack a different Pooler, only to have it sink into the ground like a Shadow would, easily avoiding the attack. That could definitely be frustrating, if they did it frequently.

Still, with the rate Ienzo was attacking them—that appeared to be an attack stolen from Axel…—Vexen was lead to believe they could be very bothersome. He quickly stopped focusing on analyzing them, though, and went back to attacking. Attacking needed to be his first priority. If he could not attack and analyze at the same time, then he needed to stop analyzing.

He swung his shield at the nearest Heartless—another Pooler, though he could see a few Mega-Shadows starting to appear—hitting it one, two, three times. The attack was a familiar pattern, and without giving it much thought, he caused an icicle to shoot up from the ground below the Heartless, sending it into the air. He stared at it for a second, before trapping it in a block of ice. The weight of the ice caused it to crash to the ground; the impact killed it.

"And you said you couldn't fight," Ienzo called.

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Heartless are completely different than Replicas who are Programmed to fight and fight _well,_" he said, throwing a glance at Ienzo. Ienzo was in the middle of mimicking the attack Vexen had just preformed. Vexen couldn't help but chuckle. "Stealing my attacks, too, now?"

"What do you want me to do?" Ienzo replied. "Besides, it looked effective."

Vexen couldn't argue with that. He returned his attention to battle, attacking a Mega-Shadow that was nipping at his heels. It was only two shield bashes before it was dead. He took a glance around the area, surveying what Heartless they were up against, and how many of them there were. There wasn't a terrible amount of Heartless, and most of them appeared to be Poolers. The only other Heartless around were the Mega-Shadows he noticed earlier, and now a few regular Shadows. All Pureblood, he realized, finding it amusing. It wasn't every day—

Wait a minute.

All Pureblood.

That meant…

"The DCP," he breathed, eyes going wide in horror.

"_Really?_" Ienzo asked.

"What?" Vexen stared. It was a good thing that most of the Poolers were gone by now and the rest of the Heartless in the area were basically harmless, because he had stopped paying them any attention.

"Do you know how long it took me to figure that out? I mean, granted, it was only a couple of minutes once I really started thinking about it, but _you_ come to that conclusion in four seconds flat?"

"And?" Vexen couldn't see what the problem was. Was Ienzo honestly upset that he had figured it out this quickly? "It was a bit obvious when I took the matter of Pureblood Heartless into account—" Wait. He was getting sidetracked. "That is beside the point, Ienzo! This is _not_ a minor darkness problem!"

"I realize that—" Ienzo began.

"You said you were only having minor darkness problems!"

"Yes, Vexen, I know what I said," Ienzo sighed. "I didn't want to worry you, alright? We have it handled."

"Are you sure? Because, if you need—"

"Vexen," Ienzo interrupted. "Can we worry about the Heartless for now, and then continue this discussion later?"

"Yes, yes of course," Vexen said, though Ienzo had already directed his attention back to killing Heartless. Using an attack that was most certainly was stolen from Lexaeus, he destroyed all the Heartless in his proximity.

Vexen watched, thinking he should probably use a large attack that would kill multiple Heartless, too. But did he know any attacks like that? It was hard to think when his mind was reeling with sudden worries about the DCP. Why hadn't he remembered it sooner? Now that he'd realized what was happening, he could _taste_ the building darkness in the air. It shouldn't have taken him until he noticed that all the Heartless were Pureblood for him to remember about the DCP.

But, more importantly, why had Ienzo not mentioned it? And then write it off as nothing once it came up?

_He said he didn't want to worry me…_

_ But why wouldn't he want to worry me?_

_ Do I worry that much?_

_ Besides, I could _help!

A different thought occurred to him, then, and he frowned.

_Does he not want my help…?_

Ienzo's actions almost made it seem that way. He'd written all darkness problems off as nothing the moment they came up, and then quickly directed the conversation in a different direction when Vexen brought the DCP up. If Ienzo only was avoiding it to avoid worrying him, then Vexen supposed it was understandable. But one could think that he was avoiding it for other reasons…

_You're being ridiculous, Vexen!_

_ Ienzo probably just directed his attention back to the Heartless so quickly because they are a threat. An admittedly small threat, at the moment, but a threat nonetheless. It would be logical to take care of them first, and _not_ argue about—_

_ Why did I just use the word 'argue'?_

_ Were we arguing?_

Vexen's foot slipped, suddenly, distracting him from his thoughts. He quickly moved before the pool of darkness forming beneath him could grow large enough to consume him. Heartless. He needed to focus on the Heartless. He couldn't just stand here and lose himself in his thoughts.

He located the Pooler that had attacked him, and sent and icicle at it. The icicle somehow did enough damage to kill it. Deciding not to question it, he turned his attention to the rest of the Heartless.

Now: what had he been planning on doing? He'd been planning on doing something before he'd been distracted with his thoughts. Oh, that's right! A large attack. He needed a large attack; one that would harm multiple Heartless at once. He knew one of those… he had to… aha!

He focused his energy into the ground, causing icicles to sprout up and trail about the area. The smaller Heartless died the moment the ice touched them; all except one who'd decided to sink into the ground and make itself invulnerable. On the larger Heartless, the attack wasn't quite as effective: damage was done, but none of them died. Thankfully, Ienzo unleashed another of Lexaeus' attacks, and it finished the job.

Vexen took another glance around the area. All the Heartless were gone. Well, all except that one Shadow, who now pulled itself up out of the ground. Ienzo mimicked the Poolers' main attack and formed a pool of darkness under it, sending it away. Vexen doubted it was gone for good, but at least it was gone for now.

He turned to Ienzo, banishing his shield. "Are you sure you don't need my help?" he asked. "Because, if you do, I can stay here…"

"Vexen, we have it handled, I promise," Ienzo said, firmly, closing his lexicon.

"I'm serious, though," Vexen said. "They won't miss me in the other universe. In fact, Riku'd probably be happier if I was gone. In fact—"

"Vexen," Ienzo interrupted. "Do you _want_ to help _that_ badly?"

"Well," Vexen faltered. "I just—"

He paused, as a pair of arms was thrown around his waist. He slowly glanced down to find that Joseph was clinging to him.

"You can't go!" Joseph cried, and then paused. "I mean, you can't stay here! I'd miss you too much!"

"Joseph," Vexen began, but Joseph wouldn't listen.

"You're the only one who likes to talk to me! I mean, yeah, I've got Toby to hang out with now, but I can't ask him questions about stuff! You're the only one who I can ask questions! 29's gotten tired of answering my questions, and even when he does answer, his answers aren't nearly as much fun as yours."

"Now, Joseph," Vexen tried. It was no use.

"_Besides, _Vexen," Joseph said. "We need you!"

"Now, that's not true," Vexen said, gently prying Joseph off of him. "I'm sure the Rebellion would do just fine without me."

"Nuh-uh!" Joseph insisted. "We could use all the help we could get. And I'd _miss you!_"

Vexen turned to Ienzo.

"I'm sorry, Vexen," he said. "But it seems I have no say in this. You can't stay here. Joseph would miss you too much."

Vexen didn't fail to notice the slight smirk on Ienzo's face as he said this. He turned back to Joseph.

"Shouldn't you have gone home already?" he asked, at a loss of what else to do.

Joseph grimaced, paling slightly. "Well… it's… only been five minutes!" he said, quickly. "I mean, I'm pushing it, but I might still be able to get back before 29 notices!"

Vexen snorted. 29 would've noticed regardless of when Joseph returned, despite what Joseph claimed. "I'm not covering for you," he informed Joseph, plainly. "This is your mess to deal with."

Joseph sighed dramatically. "I know…"

Vexen turned to Ienzo. "I suppose I should see Joseph home," he said, "before he gets himself into any more trouble with 29."

"So, goodbye, then?" Ienzo said, raising his eyebrows.

Vexen shrugged.

"Oh don't worry!" Joseph punched Vexen in the arm. "You can come see Ienzo whenever you want! Or he could come to our universe! Though… I don't think he'd like it very much in our universe…" Joseph frowned. "There's a lot of crud going on over there."

"Joseph!" Vexen scolded.

"What? I only said 'crud'!" He was silent for a moment, before adding: "Don't tell 29… kay?"

Vexen and Ienzo laughed.

"Come on, Joseph," Vexen said. "Let's go."

Joseph nodded and formed a dark corridor. "Bye Ienzo!" he called, darting through.

"Goodbye, Joseph," Ienzo called. He nodded at Vexen. "So will you be coming back?"

"Another time, I might," Vexen said. "But, for now; goodbye, Ienzo."

"Goodbye, Vexen," Ienzo said. He raised his hand in a partial wave, and smiled. "Keep out Joseph out of trouble, will you?"

Vexen laughed. "I can't make any promises, there!" He started through the dark corridor, but paused. "You be careful, alright?"

Ienzo rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine, Vexen. Stop worrying so much."

Unable to think of anything to say in response, Vexen stepped through the dark corridor.


	61. Axel! Wrong Universe AGAIN!

**Author's Note: **Rar probably mentioned that this was going up. It's a direct continuation of... chapter 166 in her fic. She's explained how it fits in no doubt. As far as it fits into my universe, basically, Axel's going to Hollow Bastion to check on the DCP and he ends up in the wrong Hollow Bastion. Goodness, Axel. Anyway, more in-depth discussion on this will go up on my blog probably tomorrow (I'm trying to finish an essay today.) Rar wrote the first half and I wrote the second half. There's some overlap, but that initial reaction from both of them is just too much gold to get rid of either of them. Anyway, enjoy!

**EDIT: **The last part of this chapter didn't make it in for some reason. Rar wrote that. Anyway, that's important. Whoops. It's there now.

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><p>If there was one thing you could count on while staying in Hollow Bastion, it was the Heartless. Even if they didn't show up until the third day into his stay here, they still showed up. And there were a lot of them, and that meant battle.<p>

Not that Riku minded. He'd take fighting Heartless over just about anything.

Except, maybe, spending time with Namine, of course. But that was sort of given.

'Though, there are chances I might not be able to spend time with her again,' Riku reminded himself, his mood darkening quickly. That's why I'm even staying at Hollow Bastion for a week. To see if I'm causing her meltdowns.

He swallowed, driving his blade through a nearing Armored Knight to distract himself from that thought. That was not what he needed to be thinking about right now.

He scanned the area, trying to see what everyone else was doing. Leon was helping Aerith out with the Heartless she was dealing with. Yuffie was making her way out of the house at a very slow pace, shuriken dangling by her side, clearly exhausted. It was fairly early in the morning, though. He couldn't really blame her. Cid was… coming his way.

"Riku, the Heartless tend t' be worse down by the Bailey," Cid said, driving his spear through an Armored Knight that was in his way. "D'you mind—"

"No," Riku replied without hesitation. "Where exactly am I heading, though?" He didn't know how to navigate this town that well.

"Oh, jus'-" Cid sighed. "I'll show you the way."

Riku nodded, and followed Cid.

It didn't take them long to get to the Bailey. It was, for the most part, a very ruined part of town, with the path on the right leading up to what looked like a Castle, and the path on the left leading to who knows where.

There were quite a few Armored Knights in the area, but Riku launched himself at the larger flying Heartless instead. He wasn't quite sure what they were called, but they were basically a larger version of the Red Nocturne. Their fire attacks were a pain, but Riku was able to kill them in just a few combos apiece. It wasn't long after that he and Cid finished off all the Armored Knights.

"Alright, now what?" Riku asked, fingers tightening impatiently around his blade.

"Jus' wait," Cid said. "There'll be more."

"There's more over there," Riku said, pointing to an area off in the distance. "Should we—"

"The main priority is keeping them away from the rest of Town," Cid answered before he could finish. "So we don' need to worry 'bout them unless they come this way."

"Yeah, but, why wait for them to come to you?" Riku started off.

"Now, Riku!" Cid called, stopping him. "I don' really think—"

Riku turned back to him. "Look, if it bugs you that much, you can stay here. I'll be fine on my own. Really." And he started off again before Cid could argue. Since Cid didn't follow after him, he assumed that was that.

He was ambushed by Neoshadows almost immediately, but they weren't hard to take care of. Neither were the rest of the Heartless in this area. Well, the Armored Knights and small flying Heartless that kind of looked like buckets weren't. The large green round Heartless—which he thought were called Morning Stars—were a bit harder to get rid of. They were large and strong, which meant it took quite a few more hits before they'd eventually die.

With that area cleared, and more Heartless ahead of him, Riku kept going. The next area was a trail through a ravine. Of course, the trail was on the walls of the ravine, which meant there was something of a drop.

Three Morning Stars appeared. Riku launched himself at the first, taking care to keep his back to the wall of the ravine, so he could see where the ledge was. He landed one, two, three hits and jumped back.

Or, he tried to jump back. The second Morning Star came crashing down next to him, making him lose his balance mid-jump. He landed, stumbled out of the way before it could nearly crush him again. The third Morning Star hit him with a spinning attack, knocking him back before he could finish recovering.

He flew back a few feet before hitting the ground and—

Wait a minute.

Wait.

Crap.

He was skidding off the edge.

He fumbled for a handhold, fingers digging into the dirt. He was able to hold on, but that didn't stop gravity from pulling the rest of him of the edge. He yelped in pain as weight of his own body wrenched his shoulder out of place.

He swore and dug his fingers in harder.

He was going to fall.

There was no way he was going to be able to hold on with his shoulder hurting like this.

He banished his blade—he didn't even know why he was still holding onto it—and tried to grab onto the ledge with his other hand, but that just made his shoulder hurt more.

He swore again.

The very, very, distinct sound of Heartless dying reached his ears. Okay. Good. He was saved.

"Cid!" he called. If he could get Cid's attention, then they could figure out how to get him up. But they better do it soon. His fingers were slipping. The pain in his shoulder was making his vision blur.

Someone swore.

It wasn't Cid.

They shouted something about vertical dark corridors, but Riku hardly heard it.

Because that was Axel.

What the heck was he doing here?

Filthy trai-

Shit.

His fingers slipped. He was falling.

This sucked.

Except, before he'd even fallen five feet, a dark corridor enveloped him. He cursed himself for being an idiot and not thinking of that himself, and then landed unceremoniously on the ground on the ravine trail.

He groaned in pain. That'd still been a fall of about four feet. Plus his shoulder—

No. Now was not the time. He pushed himself up with some difficulty, but at least it was only his left shoulder that hurt unbearably. Which meant he could summon his blade again. So he did. His eyes locked on Axel, because, sure enough, it was him.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now," he spat.

"Uh, what-" Axel was clearly flustered. Everything in his voice and body language screamed it. "I just saved your life!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a traitor." Riku started to point accusingly at Axel, out of habit more than anything else, but stopped before he'd gotten even halfway into the action. That really made his arm hurt. He bit his lip, stifling the cry of pain that wanted to come out, and let his arm fall back to his side. He'd be sure to… keep it there.

"Thanks to you," he continued, voice cracking with the pain despite his attempts to keep it even. "We don't have the Program, and—"

"Whoa, hold on!" Axel raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not that Axel."

Riku paused, stared at him.

What?

"So, what, you're a Replica?" he asked, incredulous.

xx

Axel arrived in Hollow Bastion, right over by the ravine, where all the Heartless tended to be. He needed to get a darkness reading. Well, rather, an eyeball of how many Heartless were around. Cid and Leon were going to come by later and get a reading on Cid's darkness-tracker, or whatever it was.

Like Axel had suggested, Aerith had gotten Ienzo involved in Hollow Bastion's restoration, which meant they knew exactly _why _all these Heartless were around. Stupid Xehanort. When would they be done dealing with his crap?

Probably never, if Axel was completely honest with himself.

It had been a month since Ienzo had told them what was actually going on, with the DCP and all. Hollow Bastion was on borrowed time. They were still trying to figure out how they were going to get to the Castle to fix this problem.

Axel looked down. Something was wrong. There weren't very many Heartless. Well, sure, there were a lot of Heartless, but not as many as there had been two days ago. What had changed?

Suddenly, Axel heard a battle cry.

Riku?

What was Riku doing here?

Last Axel had checked Riku was…

He located the source of the sound.

Ah. That wasn't Riku.

Well, it was Riku.

It just wasn't Riku.

It was the Riku Replica.

Axel could tell these things.

Which probably meant that Vexen was around her somewhere. Probably. Maybe not.

Just then, said Riku Replica fell off the edge. Axel winced. That's not fun. He caught himself, but only barely. His arm twisted in a weird way that could not have been good. Axel heard the yelp of pain.

Just then, seven Neoshadows showed up right around Axel.

"Oi," he muttered. "I've had enough of you."

He summoned his chakrams and dealt with them accordingly.

"Ya'll are so much easier to get rid of when I've got Assassins to take care of you," he muttered, lighting the ground on fire. Good thing the cloak he was wearing was fireproof. Axel himself may be fireproof, but his clothes weren't always.

As soon as the Neoshadows were all gone, Axel turned his attention to Riku. Somehow, the kid was still dangling there. Though, he was swearing up a storm. Then his fingers slipped.

Axel swore. He wasn't going to be able to make it back up.

"Form a vertical dark corridor!" he yelled. "Then drop yourself into it!"

He wasn't sure if Riku heard him, for the kid fell and no corridor appeared.

"Oh this had better not hurt my heart," Axel said, forming a corridor under where Riku was falling.

He hoped that because he was forming the dark corridor to _help_ someone, his heart wouldn't take too much damage. Right?

Riku dropped right in front of Axel.

_I'm getting better at those, _Axel thought.

Riku groaned, probably in pain. He pulled himself up, summoned his blade, and glared at Axel.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill you right now," Riku spat.

"Uh…" _Excuse me? _"What? I just saved your life!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't change the fact that you're a traitor!" Riku bit his lip. "Thanks to you, we don't have the Program, and—"

_Oh. Right. I'm usually a dirty-rotten traitor. _

"Whoa! Hold on there a minute!" Axel put up his hands defensively. "I'm not that Axel."

Riku stopped and raised an eyebrow. "What, so you're a Replica?"

Axel laughed. "You're the second person in this universe to assume that. The first one being myself. Or rather, my other self. No, I'm not a Replica. I'm not even a Nobody. I'm technically a Somebody. From another universe. Your home universe. I'll grant you though, usually I'm a horrible traitor. It's a phase. I'm sure I'll get over it. What brought this on?"

Riku stared at him, blinking. "Uh… Roxas," he muttered.

"Ah, yeah. That'd do it. So, anyway, as you can see I'm not…"

"Man you talk a lot," Riku growled, raising his blade. "How do I know you're not lying?"

Axel was glad his chakrams were already summoned. Just in case. But summoning them now would only bring on a fight. The Riku Replica had anger management problems. Understandably so, but still…

"You were created by Vexen under Marluxia's orders as a test for various reasons. Unfortunately, Larxene kept interfering, which is why your memories kept getting rewritten..."

"Please," Riku scoffed. "Anyone could figure that out. I'm fairly certain the Organization _here _can figure that out from the memories they got off of me. You could just be reciting stuff from that that."

"Riku, I was _there_," Axel said.

It was true. He was. Back when he didn't have emotions. When he didn't care. Poor kid…

_He definitely didn't see my best side._

Riku took a step forward, his blade still bared.

"Let me tell you something that didn't go on the record then," Axel said, smirking. "Towards the end of your stay at Castle Oblivion, you wanted more strength. You wanted to be able to take on who you called the "Real Thing" and survive. You wanted Namine to yourself. So I pulled you aside, and I told you that you could absorb someone else's energy. And I took you to Zexion and you did just that. And let me tell you, that did _not _go on the record because _I _would have had to file the paperwork for it. Because I'm a lazy-ass who didn't want to."

Riku's eyes went wide. He lowered his blade some.

"That was _you_."

"Admittedly, not my best moment. However, I'm not the traitor you think I am. Traitor, yes. Not the one you're looking for."

Riku growled.

"Oi! I just saved your life. Can we stop this?"

Riku lowered his blade the rest of the way.

"Now, about your shoulder," Axel said, banishing one chakram and digging into his pocket. Yes! He was wearing the right cloak.

"I have some bandages if you…"

"I'll have Aerith fix it."

"That's fair," Axel conceded. "And, if that's the case. I'll probably be going. Stupid faulty star shard, taking me to the wrong universe…"

_Though, star shards do this thing, where they take you where you need to be going. And that isn't always where you thought you needed to be going. _

Maybe Axel needed to be here. To save Riku.

There was a thought.

"Thank you," Riku muttered.

"Hmm?" Axel said, turning to the boy. Had he heard that right?

"For saving me," Riku said, still quiet. Axel noticed he was holding his shoulder. But Axel also knew that he didn't want help with that.

"It's what I do," Axel said with a shrug.

xx

Riku started to turn and go—he should really have Aerith look at his shoulder—but something made him pause.

"You said- you said your star shard brought you here?" he asked.

Axel nodded. "Right."

"Which means…" Riku trailed off.

_Which means anyone else from our—_that—_universe could come over here whenever they wanted…_

"It was more of an accident than anything else," Axel said.

Riku nodded. "Right."

_I shouldn't be surprised though. Joseph's gone to the other universe a few times. Nothing stopping them from coming here…_

_ Maybe they already have…_

He swallowed.

"I should, y'know, be going," Axel said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "Unless you want to ask me anything else."

"Actually, uhm." Riku swallowed again. His throat was getting tight. "Just. Just one more thing."

"Shoot."

"How's- how's Namine doing?"

Axel was visibly taken aback by that question. Which was a surprise. How had he expected anything else?

"Um, well," Axel scratched his head, shuffled his feet a bit. "Uh, she's fine." He said, finally. "She draws a lot."

Riku chuckled. No surprise there.

"She and Kairi are great friends," Axel finished, with a shrug.

Riku nodded. That was- that was good to hear.

"Um, does she-" He stopped. No. No, he better not ask that. Of course she wouldn't. Why would she ever mention him? He was the mistake everyone would rather forget about. He was the embodiment of the darkest part of her life. Of course she wouldn't talk about him. She wouldn't even want to think about him.

He squeezed his shoulder slightly, biting his lip to avoid crying out. But the pain anchored him. He shouldn't be thinking like that. All it did was make him feel sick. Or was that the pain that was making him want to puke?

"Does she what?" Axel asked.

Riku shook his head. "Is she… she happy?" There. That was a safer question.

"Yeah."

"Good. She better be."

Axel laughed.

Riku couldn't help but smile, too.

"What about you?" Axel asked.

"Me?" Riku raised his eyebrows, a little surprised. Axel was asking _him_, if he was, what, happy? Heh. Like anyone would care. Oh well. "Yeah, I'm. I'm alright," he said, nodding. "I'm in a lot of pain at the moment, though."

"You should probably go see Aerith about that, then," Axel said.

"Yeah." Riku nodded. Yeah, he really should.

"Do you want me to, I don't know, pass a message on to her or something?" Axel asked.

Riku shook his head. His heart wrenched. "No," he choked. "No, you don't- you don't even have to mention me."

If she didn't want to think about him, then she probably didn't even want to remember him.

It was better this way.

"I'm gonna. Go have Aerith look at my shoulder." Riku said. He turned then, before he could see Axel's response, before he could convince himself that asking any more questions was a good idea. The sooner he was out of this situation—the sooner Axel was gone—the better.


	62. Ten Seconds

**Author's Note: **Well, it's finally here. The crossover you've all (and rar and I) have all been waiting for. It only took us completely overhauling the whole thing to account for people being different than we anticipated. Yep. I don't think I have anything else to say about it, honestly, not here in an author's note. Rar and I will probably spam the blogs about it though. Bear in mind, this is a four chapter ordeal :P This takes place after Axel ran into the Riku Replica in Hollow Bastion. I may post stupidtimeline details on the blog later.

* * *

><p>It was peaceful that morning on Destiny Islands. Namine sat on the Paopu tree, drawing. Riku stood next to her, doing his best not to distract her because he knew how annoyed she got when her sketching was interrupted. Behind them, Sora and Kairi were training.<p>

Namine heard someone hit the sand. She reached out with her mind to get a sense of who it was, though she knew looking up would actually be easier.

She was presented with three distinct images of someone getting a face full of sand as well as a picture of Vexen. She glanced up, frowning and then gasped. Riku, slightly worried, followed her gaze. He raised his eyebrows in shock. Kairi, also noticing something was up, paused, and Sora nearly hit her. Before he could apologize, she pointed and he turned, and then frowned.

Riku, or rather, the Riku Replica, was kneeling on the ground, clutching his shoulder.

_The one Axel said he wrenched… _Namine thought.

Slowly, Namine sat her sketchbook down and got off the tree. Within a few seconds, everyone else got the idea, and they all rushed over to the boy on the shore. Namine held up her hand to slow them down. He had just flashed into dark mode.

He looked up and his eyes latched onto hers. His look of confusion changed to a smile, but then he frowned again. His eyes went wide and he reached out…

Only to bring his arm back in again. He winced in pain. And then swore. Namine pursed her lips. At least everyone else had stopped keeping pace with her. They'd all stopped somewhere along the beach.

"Are you…" she began. But she didn't finish her question. She was mostly positive that he was _not _okay. She wasn't even reaching out towards his memories, but she could feel them pounding in her head. It was a familiar feeling. And one she very much didn't like.

She knelt down beside him. Well, beside was relative. There was about five feet between the two of them. Enough to give him space, but close enough that they could hold a relatively private conversation.

"Give me ten seconds," he said gruffly.

"I… okay."

She watched him mouth the numbers. He looked up at her.

_Parallel universe. _

His mind was screaming it. That and, _Dammit Vexen._

Under other circumstances, Namine would have found that amusing.

"Do you need me to look at your arm?" Namine asked quietly. "Axel said you wrenched it."

He looked up at her, shocked. "He… he mentioned me?"

Namine nodded.

"Wha—what'd he say?"

"That you were fighting Heartless and you fell off a cliff. He was really proud of himself that he saved you. But, your shoulder…"

"It's fine," he said, almost automatically.

Namine raised an eyebrow. _Sure_, she thought. _Of course it's fine…_

Not.

"Did he say anything else?"

Namine shook her head. "There wasn't much to say, I don't think."

"Yeah…"

Namine repositioned herself so that she was sitting cross-legged in the sand. Pants had benefits. She stared off blankly into the ocean. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the other three. Riku stood in front of Sora and Kairi, a frown clearly evident on his face. Sora was trying to peer around him. Kairi stood patiently, her hands poised to cast… probably a Cure from the looks of it.

"I confess I already knew you were alive," she said quietly.

"How…?"

"I ended up in your Hollow Bastion once. Though, it was Sora's Shadow who was actually the one who made me realize who you were."

He looked right at her. "When?"

Namine frowned. Time was a weird thing and she knew that, so trying to pin it down to the month—or even the year—was pointless. "It was before your Kairi would have left the islands," she said.

"A month ago then, at least," he said.

Namine nodded. It had been about three since that point. Then she shuddered, reminded of the awful things the Shadow had said.

Riku walked over. Namine tensed. This could go one of several different ways…

But Riku was able to sit down right next to her and _he_ said nothing.

Namine opened her mouth to say something—_anything—_but nothing came out.

"Oh please don't…" he began.

_Please don't cry, _Namine finished in her head.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked.

"Not before I…" Namine began, but her voice caught. She cursed internally.

"Namine…" Riku began.

"No! I have to say this and it will get said, _now_!"

Both of them looked at her.

She took a deep breath.

"There are things, that I wish I could have told you, back in Castle Oblivion," she said, looking at him.

He didn't want to meet her gaze. No real surprise.

"Your feelings," she began. "About how you…" _Loved, cared, was willing to die to protect me… _"Loved me. They were real."

Now he made eye contact with her.

"I'm not trying to start something now. But I want you to know, that they weren't lies like Larxene said. They were real."

"But _you _said they weren't real," he argued.

"I lied." The irony of that statement hurt. "I had to tell you otherwise, that you didn't, _couldn't_, love me because it would only end badly for both of us. You have to realize that."

He said nothing.

Namine sighed. "I cared about you," she continued. "So much. I wanted to protect you but," she paused, nearly laughing. "But you were so quick to protect me that I never got a chance. And I wished you wouldn't be so determined! Every time you got in trouble, I couldn't help but think just how expendable you were to them. And…"

And she wasn't. But she couldn't even say it. It was too much.

The look he gave her was one mixed with shock and disbelief.

She could feel Riku behind her, but he sat there, silent and still. Waiting. Assessing. Like he always did.

"No… you didn't… you couldn't have…"

"I cared about you," she repeated.

"But did you love me?"

Namine winced.

"My answer is 'no', but hear me out on why. At the time, I was a Nobody. I had no heart. I had… I had no emotions. Well… okay, that's a lie, I had enough emotions to care about you and be upset every time Larxene…"

Her voice caught again. Oh. There were so many things that Larxene had done…

He grunted.

"But I didn't have the capacity to love. Not like that. _You_, however, did. You were a Replica, created from the data of someone who _did _have the capacity to love like that. Vexen never intended those sorts of emotions to happen, but they did."

"Did you love Sora?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

Namine shook her head. "No," she said, chuckling. "Again, I had no heart."

"Did he love you?"

"Oh, he thought he did," Namine said.

Namine heard a sharp intake of breath that was definitely Riku's.

"_They _made me. _She _made me. I had no choice. But I set that right again when I had the chance. It took me a whole damn year but I did it. Sora has no recollection of Castle Oblivion and he's very happy with Kairi…"

She looked over at them with the corner of her eye. They were sitting halfway down the beach, sort of looking at them. And by 'sort of', Namine meant that Sora was staring and Kairi was probably telling him repeatedly not to be rude.

He snorted. "Sora and Kairi…" he muttered, shaking his head. Then he frowned. "A… _year_?"

"We have reason to believe this universe runs faster than the one you went to," Namine said. "And I think we've just proven it more. How long has it been?"

"Nine months," he said, almost uncertainly. "Time passes weird in Castle Oblivion."

Namine snorted.

"One last thing," she said. "That I have to say. And then you can go."

He raised an eyebrow.

"When you and him," she said, nodding her head at Riku. "Went off to fight, I secretly wished that both of you could somehow make it. And I am glad you did."

"Me too," he said, his voice almost wistful now.

"Are you happy?" she asked before she could stop herself.

"Yeah," he said, stuttering a little. "Are you?"

She chuckled. "Yeah." After a moment, she added. "You can leave now, I suppose. If you don't want to stay here."

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you _want _me to leave?"

She shrugged. "Whatever you want to do."

"No, I-I think I'll stay. Vexen dragged me here for some stupid reason and I might as well let him get whatever it is he wanted to do out of the way so this doesn't happen _again_."

Namine snorted.

He looked around. "Where'd he go, anyway? I want to… I don't know. Punch him in the face or something. I was in the middle of something when he decided he was going to drag me here."

Riku snorted that time.

"They can come and sit down, you know," _he_ said, looking over at Sora and Kairi. "I'm not going to hurt anyone." Almost as if to prove it, he phased back out of dark mode.

Namine looked over at the other two. Kairi nudged Sora and the two of them came over and joined them. Sora kept looking like he was going to say something, but no question actually came out. Kairi just looked content to listen for the moment.

_He_ sighed. "I was having such a nice day," he muttered.

Namine wanted to ask him what that was about, but her mind was having trouble forming more coherent thoughts.

"So… what happened to you?" Riku asked.

"Well, you killed me," _he _began. "Except, you didn't kill me. Some guy showed up, saved my life, told me he'd drop me off in a parallel universe and I'd get a 'second chance at life' and all that poetic stuff…"

"Do you know who it was?" Sora asked.

"No clue. Never mentioned a name. And I saw him maybe once after that—and the subject of his name never did come up. He might've been avoiding it. Anyway. He dropped me in a parallel universe. I met Sora and Kairi there, we became good friends. No surprise."

"Heh, no surprise," Sora agreed.

Riku nodded.

_He _continued his story. The events of Castle Oblivion that he recounted sounded oddly similar to the events of Castle Oblivion that Namine remembered. Though there were subtle differences.

"I almost wish I hadn't killed their Vexen," he mused. "The Replica Program went over to Saix when he died. And _that _didn't end well."

Namine thought about mentioning that they already knew how that ended, seeing as they'd ran into Joseph a couple of times. But she didn't want to interrupt.

"Wait, what about Lexaeus?" Riku asked.

So much for not interrupting.

_He _frowned. "Huh. I… never saw him. Haven't seen him. Ever. I have _no clue _where he is—all I've seen is a few Replicas. And, ah, ahem, _killed _a few of his Replicas."

"That's weird," Riku mused. "You'd think the Organization would be keeping better track of him."

_He _shrugged. "He could've just not been in Castle Oblivion. I haven't seen _everyone _from the Organization. I don't think I've run into Luxord yet. Or Xaldin. Or Demyx. So, it's entirely possible I just haven't seen him."

"Organization members aside, what happened next?" Sora prodded.

Namine chuckled. Oh, Sora.

He thought for a moment, then grinned. "Namine."

And she was presented with images of herself. Except they weren't her. This was his Namine. She smiled.

He'd already begun his story about how Marluxia thought it would have been a good idea to convince him to work for them by using Namine as leverage. About how she was created from Riku's memories.

Namine found the whole situation incredibly ironic.

"What's she like?" she asked, tentatively. She had an idea, but she wanted to _know_.

"Namine?"

"Who else!"

"Oh, well, uh. Uhm. She's… she's different than you. She—uh. She talks more." His face flushed red. "Though, maybe that's not a good example… because. You talk. Obviously. I just—you didn't use to… talk… ah…much." He licked his lips nervously. "I… uh… don't know. She's nice! I like spending time with her."

Sora and Kairi started flat-out snickering.

"What?" he asked, looking right at them.

Sora started to say something, but Kairi stopped him. He responded by shoving Riku into Namine.

"Hello," Riku said gruffly, steadying himself.

"Hi," Namine replied, holding onto his arm.

_He _laughed a little. "You two? Are—" He laughed again. "Well… uh… good… good for you."

Though Namine could tell that his mind was reeling. She was itching to draw roughly five pictures at once at that exact moment. But she'd left her sketchbook and pencils by the Paopu tree.

Almost as if Kairi had picked up on that thought, she asked: "Does she draw?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Of course she does. She's very good at it, but… not like that's really a surprise."

He thought for a moment. "I can't think of anything else about her… I mean…"

Sora laughed.

"Hey!" he frowned. "You try and explain Kairi to me and then try laughing again."

Sora frowned. "Well, uh. You see, she's… my girlfriend."

"Sora!" Kairi argued. "Is that all you can think of?"

"What?" Sora asked, grinning now. "I mean, it was the first thing that came to mind. Oh hey, Riku." He didn't stumble over the name, Namine noticed. "Are you and Namine... like… I dunno…"

"He's trying to ask if you two are together, I think," Kairi finished.


	63. A Million Tangents

**Author's Note: **Little bit shorter than the last one, but that's how the POV splits ended up happening, and for the most part, we're organizing the chapters by POV splits. Anywho, rar wrote this one (I wrote the last one with rar reading over my shoulder.) And that's enough of business, enjoy!

* * *

><p>"He's trying to ask if you two are together, I think," Kairi finished.<p>

Riku raised his eyebrows, a little shocked by the question. Though, he supposed, he shouldn't be, with Namine and Real Thing- and with them being on the subject of Sora and Kairi- and—

He coughed. "Well. Uh, we're- sorta. Ahm…" He cleared his throat again. It's not that he was uncomfortable. He just… wasn't sure how to explain it. "It's uh. There's been a lot going on."

He scratched his nose, fixing his eyes on the ground, hoping his cheeks weren't as red as they felt. "Ah, what's happened over here?" he asked, figuring a subject change was nice. "Since I… uh, left?"

"Well, I restored Sora's memories," Namine said.

Riku nodded. She'd mentioned. "Why'd it take so long?" he asked. "Unless it was supposed to take a year…"

"No, the Organization got involved," Real Thing sighed. "But, eventually, we got it all sorted out, and Sora was able to wake up."

Sora nodded vigorously. "Yeah, and we—me and Donald and Goofy that is—were a little confused at first because we didn't remember even going to sleep in the first place," he said. "So we pulled out Jiminy's Journal, seeing if he'd written anything down, but the entire journal was blank, except for the words 'Thank Namine'. Not that any of us remembered—"

"We defeated the Organization," Real Thing interrupted, speaking over Sora.

"—which we all felt- hey!" Sora frowned, clearly offended. "I was- and- and you left out—"

"We've got a lot to cover," Real Thing said. "We can summarize."

"Well, fine," Sora pouted. "Then they came back and we beat them again."

"Now you left out too much…"

"Make up your mind, will you!?"

Kairi giggled. "Well, if we're picking up after the Organization was defeated the first time, these two dorks—" she nodded over at Real Thing and Sora "—took their Mark of Mastery—meaning they took a test to see whether or not they qualified as Keyblade Masters."

"Wait a minute, you can wield a Keyblade?" Riku asked, looking directly at Real Thing.

Real Thing just rolled his eyes and summoned his Keyblade to him. "Yeah."

"Well, uh, good for you?" Riku chuckled. "Heh, it doesn't look much different from—"

"I know that."

Real Thing banished his blade.

"Hey, I like the design!" Sora said, elbowing Real Thing, laughing a little. "By the way, we both passed!"

"Good for you!" Riku said, figuring it was at least polite. Not that he exactly cared about this Mark of Mastery Exam. He frowned a little. "Do you think I can wield a Keyblade?"

"Can you now?" Real Thing asked.

"Nope."

"Maybe you will someday!" Kairi told him, smiling.

"I'm sure the potential's there," Real Thing added.

"Whatever." Riku shrugged. "It's not like I exactly want one. I'm just curious. Anyway." He shifted a little in the sand, stretching his legs out, leaning back. "Where'd you leave off?"

"Ah, we took the exam…" Sora made a face, thinking. "And then… ah… Xehanort Replicas?" He looked over at Real Thing, probably wondering if he was summarizing too little or too much.

Real Thing just shrugged.

"Xehanort?" Riku asked. The name sounded… familiar, but he couldn't peg a face to it or anything. Then he grimaced. "…Replicas?"

Sora nodded. "Yeah, they were awful!"

"But who's Xehanort?"

"Oh, he's uh-" Sora thought for another moment. "Ah… you know Xemnas?"

"Of course."

"And Ansem?" Sora asked. "The Heartless, Ansem."

"Yeah…"

That was the only Ansem he knew…

"Well, they're the Nobody and Heartless of Xehanort, respectively," Sora explained. "And since we killed 'em in the right order—Ansem first, then Xemnas—it meant Xehanort could come back as a Somebody."

"And, of course, that happened to the rest of the Organization, and they came back too," Real Thing said. He leaned back in the sand, too.

"Ahh…" Riku let out a long sigh. "So I'm nowhere near done with them…"

"Guess not…" Sora sounded about as disappointed as he felt. "How many have you already killed?"

"Four. But if they're gonna come back…"

"They shouldn't be a problem until Xehanort himself comes back, right?" Kairi asked, moving to cuddle up against Sora. Sora didn't say anything about it, just shifted so he could support both their weight, one arm around her.

"Well, they weren't for us," he agreed.

"That's good, I guess," Riku said, hiding a smile. He thought about it for moment. Of course, he wouldn't need to worry about the Organization coming back right now—he still had to deal with them the first time—but they'd mentioned the Organization had come back here. He assumed that meant everyone. Which meant… "Ah… did Larxene come back?" he asked.

"Unfortunately," Namine muttered, grimacing.

"Why do you want to know?" Real Thing asked, frowning a little.

Riku paused for a moment, then asked: "Can I kill her?"

"Why would you want to fight her?!" Namine demanded, all but leaping forward at him.

He chuckled, flinching a little at the sand she kicked up with her sudden movement. "Just cuz," he said, casually.

"Hey-" Sora scrambled to sit up straighter, too, just as urgent. "If you're plotting revenge- you- it's probably not a good idea! Revenge never ends well… And it's not the way to answer this problem, either!"

"So? I don't care."

"But-" Namine began, frowned. "Listen, I know how awful she was. But Sora's right! Revenge isn't the way to—"

"I only said I wanted to kill her!" he argued.

"You're lying…" Real Thing muttered.

"I-" Riku shot a glare over at him, growling a little. "I only wanna scare her a little. Then I'll drive a blade through her gut and be done with it!"

"But what if you can't kill her?" Namine argued. "What then? Do you want her knowing you're still alive? I mean, I'll doubt she'll hunt you down only if she knew, but if you attempted to kill her? Of course she'd hunt you down!"

"Across universes?" he laughed.

"Do you want to risk it?"

"It doesn't matter! I'll be able to kill her."

"Are you sure about that?"

He nodded. "Pretty sure. Besides, it's not like I need your permission or anything."

"Well, no," Real Thing admitted, grimacing quite a bit. "But I wouldn't—"

"I'm not you."

There was silence for a moment. Everyone stopped talking, and all the sound that was left was the sounds of their breathing colliding on top of each other, along with the constant sound of the waves beating against the shore. Real Thing let out a huffy breath, and Sora sighed a little, somewhere between exasperation and curiosity. Kairi definitely sighed with exasperation, however, and Namine made a sad noise. He frowned a little.

"Fine," she sighed. "Whatever. I guess we can't really stop you at this point."

"You're letting him off that easy!?" Real Thing glared a little.

"Ah… I don't think we're gonna be able to talk him out of this," Sora said.

"Besides, it is his life," Kairi added. "He can do what he wants with it. Even if that's doing something stupid and dangerous."

Sora grinned. "It's not like we haven't done anything stupid and dangerous before, right Riku? And we ended up fine, didn't we?"

"Yeah…" Real Thing let out a long sigh.

Riku smirked.

"You should probably take someone with you, though," Real Thing said, after a moment. "Just because that's the smart thing to do."

Riku granted him that, at least, and looked over at Sora. "Hey, Sora, you wanna go?" he asked.

Sora's eyes went wide. "Uh- now?"

Riku shrugged. "Why not? I'm already here."

"Yeah, but-" Sora grimaced now. "I'm cool with going with you, but I'm not sure if I want to go now."

"Hmm… good point, I guess." He chuckled a little, laughing it off out of habit. "Ah, why would I want to, huh? I'd have to find her first, anyway. Sounds like too much work. Besides," he scratched his cheek. "I do want to head back home sooner rather than later. Namine's probably getting worried about me…"

"If you need to go back now—" Kairi began.

"No, no," he said. "I can stay a little longer. Just not long enough to hunt Larxene down. Who knows how long that'd take? Maybe another time." He shrugged. "Ah, what was it you were saying about Xehanort Replicas?"

It was probably best to change the subject.

"Oh, well, Xehanort made Vexen make them," Sora said. "There were six of them, and they gave us a lot of trouble."

"Especially the one in the Badlands," Kairi added. The two of them had shifted so they were snuggling up against each other again.

Sora growled a little. "Don't remind me."

Riku raised his eyebrows. It took a lot to make Sora upset. Let alone growl. He hadn't forgotten that. "What'd he do?" he asked.

"Threw Kairi off a cliff," Real Thing answered.

He cringed.

"Thankfully, Axel was there to form a dark corridor, or they both would've been toast."

"Sora threw himself off after me," Kairi explained.

"Hey! Axel saved us!" Sora protested, though he was grinning down at Kairi. "Vertical dark corridors are lifesavers!"

Kairi smiled back up at him, their noses nearly bumping together.

Riku averted his eyes. "Tell me about it," he muttered, chuckling.

"Oh, Axel saved you too, didn't he?" Sora asked, looking up.

"Mm." His hand subconsciously went to his shoulder.

"Do you need me to look at that?" Namine asked, not for the first time.

He shook his head. "I'm sure it's fine. It'd hurt more if it was out of place again…"

"He dislocated it," Namine explained.

"Axel mentioned," Real Thing reminded her.

"I broke my wrist once!" Sora exclaimed.

"When'd this become a competition?" Kairi giggled, reaching up and booping Sora on the nose. He grinned again.

"Roxas broke mine," Real Thing mused, feeling his left wrist.

"I had all the fingers in this hand broken," Riku said, figuring he might as well add on. He held up his right hand and wriggled his fingers for emphasis.

"How'd you manage that?" Sora asked.

"Well, I-" He paused. This would take a little more explaining than just… "So, in my universe, the Replica Program's pretty huge, right?"

"Yeah," Real Thing said.

"Joseph mentioned it," Kairi added. "We ran into him once. He ended up in our Twilight Town."

"He might've mentioned that…" Riku muttered. "Anyway, so the Replica Program's huge, and guess who they have Replicas of?"

"Vexen?" Sora offered.

"Of course there are Vexen Replicas!" Real Thing said, rolling his eyes.

"Who?" Namine asked.

"Larxene."

Namine gasped a little, and Sora cringed with sympathy.

"Anyway, L—one of her Replicas—stepped on my hand, hoping to incapacitate me," Riku explained, chuckling. "Unfortunately for her, I can still fight left-handed. Not well, mind you, but…"

He trailed off, glancing in Namine's direction. She was tracing her fingers through the sand, very clearly trying to draw a picture. He frowned. "Where's your sketchbook?"

"I left it by the Paopu tree," she replied.

"Do you want to go get it?" he asked. "I won't mind. We can sit here and wait for you."


	64. scienceiscoolxiii

**Author's Note: **Hey look! More crossover! Woo! Enjoy!

* * *

><p>"On it," Riku said, getting up.<p>

Namine looked up at him and smiled.

"Do we want to wait for him?" _he _asked, smirking a little.

She shrugged.

_He _ended up waiting until Riku had returned with Namine's sketchbook. And Namine was intently into a drawing a Vexen Replica fending a Larxene Replica off with his shield before he started talking again.

"So how many Larxene Replicas are left?" Riku asked after a bit. "It would seem you've killed most of them."

_He _stopped for a bit, thinking. "I've killed… seventeen Larxene Replicas." He nodded, confirming that statement. "Amaryllis has killed some and Axel's killed a couple. So that leaves nine of them. Unfortunately, L is one of them." He growled and shook his head.

Namine was in the middle of drawing another Vexen Replica behind the first one. He was attacking with ice.

"Hey, is that in The World that Never Was?" _he _asked, sort of looking over her shoulder.

She frowned. She didn't like people looking over her shoulder. But she let Riku do it. But… She shook her head to clear it. He had asked a question.

"It's the Round Room," Riku said. "That's what they call it. I think it's otherwise known as the Place Where Nothing Gathers."

"Huh, when was there… nuh-uh! Is that Vexen?"

Namine blinked, staring at the picture. "Um, perhaps?"

"Yeah, because that's L."

"How can you _tell_?" Sora asked.

"That's the worst scowl on any Larxene Replica I've ever seen. That automatically makes it L. Bet that's 37. Vexen did say he got caught and Xemnas might be looking for him… How is it that you can _do _that?" _he _asked. "I didn't say anything about that."

Namine shrugged, shaking her head.

"Say what about Vexen?" Kairi was the one to ask this time.

"Oh, apparently while I was away in Hollow Bastion for a week to do an experiment for Namine's meltdowns…"

Meltdowns? As in… Namine had a fairly good idea what those were. They weren't good. Why was he…? She chided herself for stopping listening.

"…and L and 37, who are basically just a set and it's disgusting, find him and drag him to Xemnas and insist that he's from a parallel universe."

"That can't be good," Riku said.

_He _shrugged. "It's not really my problem."

"Meltdowns…?" Namine said, finally, her mouth catching up to her brain. Goodness, she was slow this afternoon.

"Uh…" _he _scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah. I don't really want to talk about them. We're working on fixing them. It's fine."

"Isn't that when someone remembers a lot of things at once?" Sora asked.

"You could put it that way," _he _said gruffly.

Namine was already drawing. She already knew that _his _Namine didn't have the memories to become a meltdown. Sure, she had memories, just not the…

Halfway through her picture, she started drawing another on top of it. And then another. And then another. The pictures crowded in her head, all on top of each other. There was no way she was going to be able to draw them all out.

They were _his _memories that she was forced to live through.

Namine gasped. She slammed the pencil down and slid the sketchbook off her lap.

Everyone was looking at her.

"Namine…?" Riku began.

_He _didn't look too thrilled either.

"That's awful. What she must go through… I… I can't even…"

_He _looked at her sketchbook and winced.

"Why would you try to draw that?" he asked, frowning.

"I didn't try. It just happened. Hang on a second…"

She racked her brain for everything she knew about memories. What would cause them. What were the factors. The memories themselves were clearly not stable… especially since…

"Unstable memories," she whispered. And they were her fault.

But could she fix them? Perhaps? Would it even matter? _He _seemed to be fine. It was _his _Namine that was having the meltdowns…

"Maybe I could fix them," she said, her voice louder now. She looked at _him_. "I'd understand if you didn't want me meddling anymore, especially after all I've already done. But if I could get a look at her memory bank, I might be able to repair or make up for whatever's causing them. Program aside."

Her last words brought a smirk to her own face. Sometimes she prided herself on the things she could do without the Replica Programs. Fixing Sora and Roxas? The brunt of that had been her. She'd been learning to take pride in her work when it was for something good.

She expected _him _to say no. That he didn't want her meddling. That he was fine living separate lives or something like that.

Except, he actually seemed to be considering it.

"Hmm, well, we're going to run one more experiment in Hollow Bastion when I get back. We're going to test to see if getting her out of Castle Oblivion does anything." A scowl crossed _his_ face and _he_ cringed. But he didn't say anything about that, rather he continued. "If it doesn't though, maybe I'll take you up on that offer. It'll be up to her though, too."

"Of course," she replied.

"Besides, everything's a little crazy right now anyway. What with the Vexen and Xemnas thing, and there's something going on with Roxas, plus there's the usual Rebellion stuff…"

"What about Sora?" Kairi asked.

Of course Kairi would ask.

If Namine remembered correctly, Sora hadn't been doing too hot the last time they were there.

"Uh," _he _said, scratching his head. "I haven't seen him in a while. I think he's doing better as far as his darkness is concerned. I honestly don't know. Sorry."

"That's okay," Kairi said, shrugging. "I was just curious."

"What was that bit about Roxas?" Riku asked.

"Oh, well, so he got killed before the Rebellion started. It might have been what started it, actually. No, that was definitely the Program going to Saix. But Roxas got killed right in there. Except, apparently they found a way to bring him back. Axel was behind it, I think."

"Makes sense," Sora said. "They're friends."

"But to just rebuild a Replica…" Riku mused.

"Yeah, right?" _he _said. "I'm not sure what I think of it either. He's kind of puppet-ish and I don't really like him."

Namine shuddered at the word "puppet." She also saw the irony of _him _using the word.

"Well," Sora said. "I hope everything works out…"

xx

Vexen, who had, of course, been watching the entire scene, was currently scribbling down notes hastily. This experiment had two functions: one, to see how Riku would interact with the original Namine, based on his observations with the Namine Replica. His findings were certainly interesting so far. Then, it was also to see if the Namine Replica had a meltdown while Riku was away. Surely if she did, Riku could not be the cause of them, correct? He was in a different universe!

They were just talking about the Rebuilding of Roxas when he was interrupted by a Keyblade being poked into his side.

"What are you doing here?" a boy with blond spikey hair and blue eyes asked. Vexen took a startled step back, vaguely recognizing the actual Roxas, though he knew full-well what he looked like. However, he wasn't able to back up very far, because there was yet another Keyblade being poked into his other side.

He turned around as best as he could and tried to figure out who exactly it was he was looking at. She looked familiar—she looked a lot like Kairi, actually. She had black hair, and eyes that looked an awful lot like Sora's…

He could also tell from the looks of her, that she was a Replica.

"Wait a second," he said, pausing. "You're Replica Number 43!"

The girl, Xion, raised an eyebrow. "Ex_cuse _me?" she said.

"She's got a name!" Roxas growled. "It's Xion!"

"You're… you're alive!" Vexen exclaimed.

"Obviously," Xion said, her Keyblade inching closer to Vexen's chest. "You didn't answer his question. _What _are you doing here?"

"I'm conducting an experiment…"

"Aren't all of you?" Roxas asked. "Which one… oh…"

He began to lower his Keyblade. Xion kept hers pointing at his chest. "What is it?" she asked.

"This is Vexen," Roxas said.

"Be specific," Xion said. "There are… oh…" She lowered her Keyblade as well. "You're the Original one. Though, can we trust you?" As she said that, she raised her Keyblade once again.

"I dunno," Roxas said. "He did disappear for nearly a year."

"I never wanted to work for Xehanort, if that's what you're getting at," Vexen spluttered.

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing _here_," Xion said. "And why now?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Vexen said.

"If you knew the life I lived, you'd understand that I'd believe just about anything," Roxas said.

"Well, I was in another universe for that time period…" Vexen paused, something dawning on him. "Has it really been almost a year?"

"Well, that's the estimate we get from your Replicas," Xion said. "Based on when you left and all."

Vexen's eyes lit up. "How many of them are still around?"

"Too many to count," Roxas replied.

Vexen beamed.

"Man you are weird," Xion said. "Axel wasn't kidding."

Vexen shuddered, as he was apt to do anytime Axel was mentioned. "Is… he around?" Vexen asked.

"Axel?" Roxas said. "No, last I checked he was trying to get Kuin to go on a date with him."

Xion snorted. "She'll never say yes."

"We're getting off-subject," Roxas said. "You were in another universe?"

Vexen nodded.

"I don't want to know," Xion said, putting up a hand. "I just want to know why he's _here, now._"

Vexen hesitantly pointed at the Riku Replica, sitting with the Real Riku, the Real Namine, Sora and Kairi.

"Why are there two Rikus?" Roxas asked.

"The one in the middle is a Replica," Xion said.

Roxas looked at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"How do you figure?"

"He's the Riku Replica that Vexen made," Xion said. "I saw his project file when I was looking up stuff about my past."

"You hacked my computer?" Vexen asked.

"You didn't make it hard," Xion muttered. "Your passwords all had the word 'replica' in them. Well, except the one that was 'scienceiscoolxiii'."

Roxas laughed.

"Anyway, so that's the Riku Replica," Xion said. "And I'm assuming you brought him here for some dumb reason?"

Vexen puffed out his chest. "I'm running an experiment to see…"

"And suddenly, I don't care," Roxas interrupted.

"You hang around Axel too much," Xion muttered.

"You're no better," Roxas argued.

Vexen started to sneak away from the pair, but he was met with two Keyblades in his back.

"Really?" he groaned. "This isn't necessary."

"You _still _haven't answered _why _you are here!" Xion pressed.

"I told you before, I'm conducting an experiment," Vexen said, pointing yet again to the Riku Replica sitting among the others.

"And I'm thinking we conduct an experiment of our own," Roxas said, looking between Vexen and the group sitting along the beach.

He caught eye with Xion and she nodded eagerly.

Roxas hooked one arm around one of Vexen's. Xion followed suit with the other arm.

"This should be interesting," Roxas said as the two of them began dragging him towards the others.

"What!?" Vexen said. "Why are you doing this?! You're interrupting my research!"

"No, we're just doing a bit of our own," Xion said.

She and Roxas shoved Vexen to where he landed (on his face) right in front of the Riku Replica.

"Hey, everybody," Xion said. "Look what we found!"


	65. Some sort of Science Experiment

**Author's Note: **I was supposed to be posting this and I posted one for the Prequel instead. Whoops. Oh well, now you have two new chapters! This is the last one for the crossover sequence! But never fear, we will undoubtedly have more crossover scenes in the future. Also, this scene was also written from Riku's POV, but that wasn't really chapter-worthy length and it just _couldn't _get combined with anything. Rar may post it in ASAS sometime later. Anywho, enjoy!

* * *

><p>Unfortunately, Roxas and… Xion decided to push him forward, so he landed face first in the sand. Vexen grimaced, pushing himself up and spitting sand out of his mouth. This would be the <em>second<em> time this week that he'd been forced to the ground. At least, this time, no one was holding him down, and he wasn't in front of Xemnas, either.

However, he ended up with another face-full of sand as Riku—his Riku Replica—scrambled backwards and kicked more up in the process. He coughed and pushed himself up the rest of the way, dusting himself off.

"There he is!" Riku laughed (too cocky for his own good, in Vexen's opinion. Always had been). "I knew you were around here somewhere. The experiment went well, I hope."

Cocky and sarcastic… hmph.

"I'm technically not _finished,_" Vexen corrected. "I was rudely interrupted." He cast an annoyed look up at Roxas and Xion, not that it changed anything. He doubted they even cared, but he did have his pride to consider.

"Now you know how I feel," Riku said.

Vexen shot a glare at him. If he kept this attitude up… well… Actually, there wasn't anything Vexen could do about this attitude. That didn't mean he liked it.

Riku got to his feet, stretching as he did so. "Anyway. We should probably get going, before Vexen gets started on anything again."

"Yeah! You won't be able to get him to stop!" Sora agreed, laughing.

Vexen thought about being offended. He really did. But… it was true… and… And wait a minute. "How is it that you and Roxas are separate?" he asked, eyes narrowing as he studied Sora. Then Kairi. "And you and Namine? Shouldn't that…" He frowned. "…not be possible?"

"Ah, funny story, actually!" Roxas said. "We're all partial Replicas, now. Ah… one of your Replicas had a separation program all set up."

"It was 42," Namine said. "You'll probably want to ask him about it."

Vexen nodded. "I probably will, this is absolutely fascinating!" He grinned a little, both with the sheer fascination he had about this, and the pride he suddenly felt for 42. "How, exactly, does that—" He paused, noticing that Riku was clutching his head, like it hurt.

Ah… which meant his _other_ experiment was proving successful.

"Are you okay?" he asked Riku, though, just to be extra sure. This sympathetic backlash he got of Namine's meltdowns _couldn't _be a pleasant feeling.

"Headache," Riku mumbled, probably trying to brush it off.

"That looks like more than a headache," Riku—the _real_ Riku—said, suspiciously.

Vexen saw Namine bite her lip out of the corner of his eye. Clearly she was worried, too. Or suspicious. He'd never been good at reading her emotions.

"Is he _actually_ alright?" Kairi asked.

"I… think so…" Namine replied, slowly.

"Ah, I think he's right," Vexen said, quickly, getting to his feet. "We should… get back to the other universe."

"Is something wrong with him?" Xion asked, folding her arms across her chest. She was frowning.

"No, but I'm sure he won't want to try and keep this conversation going when he has a headache," Vexen told her, tersely. He opened a dark corridor off to the side and out of the way. "Sorry to cut it short—"

"No problem!" Sora assured him, grinning. "And Riku, you should stop by another time! So we can keep talking from where we left off!"

"Good idea," Riku—his Replica—mumbled, stepping through the corridor, obviously very distracted.

"I'll have to stop by another time myself," Vexen said. "I have more questions about…"

"A lot of things, we know," Riku—the real one—interrupted. (He was going to have trouble keeping them straight in his head… thankfully they were leaving now.)

"Another time, then." Vexen sighed, getting the feeling that no one here wanted to really talk to him, anyway. He stepped through the corridor after Riku, and grimaced. "Ahh… Wrong universe. We're still in… _this _Castle Oblivion."

He'd thought this Castle Oblivion was sealed off, still. Though, if he'd thought it through, of course it wouldn't be. Xehanort was gone now, and there were no threats to warrant keeping it—

"Why'd you bring us _here!?_" Riku shouted, interrupting his thought process. Vexen jumped a little, and opened his mouth to explain, but Riku kept shouting. "Is this another one of your stupid experiments?!"

"No!" Vexen protested. "I- I just did what I normally do to get back to the other universe!" His words weren't coming out nearly fast enough. "I didn't expect to—"

"You're lying!"

Riku was practically screaming at this point, his eyes wide with fury, hands clenched into fists, his breathing heavy. Obviously, he was upset. Furious. …_scared_?

The thought of Riku being scared was almost laughable, then Vexen remembered where they were standing. It wasn't laughable. It wasn't even surprising. He cursed himself for not thinking the whole where-he-was-forming-a-dark-corridor-to thing through. Even if this Castle Oblivion had been sealed, he shouldn't have tried to go to it. He should've just tried to go directly to the other universe.

Though, he wasn't sure how being in the Castle Oblivion of that universe was any better… but those were thoughts for another time.

"No, Riku, I swear—"

Riku wouldn't hear any of it.

"But why'd you bring me here to begin with? This _universe?_" he demanded, his voice strained. He'd gone tense, as if trying to collapse in on himself… to protect himself. "Why- did you just want to put me in front of _her?_ Watch me as I panicked?!"

"You didn't panic…" Vexen said, calmly.

"Yes I _did!_"

Vexen took a deep breath, biting his lip, trying to hold all the emotions he was feeling right now back. He needed to be calm, for Riku's sake, regardless of the fact his heart was aching like it was.

"You did fine, after-" he began.

"That doesn't _matter!_" Riku interrupted, again. "I- I dealt with it because I _had_ _to_ and maybe I'm not upset about seeing her but I didn't _want_ to and you just _drag _me over here? Like I'm still—"

He broke off.

Vexen swallowed, though he had a feeling how that sentence was going to end. He dreaded it.

"Like you're still… what?" he asked, anyway, though he had plenty of guesses. One of them involved the word _puppet._ Another, _toy—_though only Larxene had used that word.

"Like…"

The subject clearly frustrated Riku. He ran a hand through his hair—that nervous twitch of his. Well, not nervous, but it certainly wasn't new. He did it every time something frustrated him.

"Like Castle Oblivion all over again…" Riku mumbled, eyes fixed on the ground. "Like I'm just…"

He wouldn't finish that sentence, either. Though, it was the same sentence. The one he'd started but refused to finish three times now.

"Go ahead," Vexen told him, gently. "There's no need to worry about hurting my feelings or anything."

"Like I'm just an experiment to you," Riku said, finally.

Vexen suspected as much. Then Riku laughed, a sharp and bitter sound. It made Vexen cringe a little.

"Not that I _care _what you think of me," Riku continued, firmly. "But it's not exactly nice to feel like I'm _anyone's_ experiment."

Vexen understood that feeling, very well. The way Xemnas had said his name—he still remembered that very well—and how it made him feel like he was nothing. Not just nothing, but _property. _Worse, _Xemnas'_ property. It felt awful. He doubted that feeling like you nothing more than someone's experiment felt any better.

Though, honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if Riku also felt like he was…

Well…

"I'm sorry," Vexen said, and he meant it. "I got excited, and…"

He trailed off. Riku refused to look at him. That wasn't a surprise, either. Hardly anything about this conversation was. Even the walls around them were familiar.

"You could've at least _asked,_" Riku muttered. "Or _told me._ Or…"

"I will next time," Vexen assured him.

"There won't _be_ a next time."

"Hypothetically," Vexen said, chuckling a little.

But Riku was right. There _wouldn't_ be a next time. Not like this. It shamed Vexen to admit it, but he had treated Riku like he was only an experiment. Like he was… property. Forcing him into this without his consent. Forcing him into this without even _preparing_ him for what was going to happen.

Granted, doing either of those things would've changed the results of the experiment. If Riku'd had the knowledge of what he was—

Vexen stopped his thoughts there. It didn't change anything. The results would've only been altered slightly—and it certainly wasn't enough to excuse how he'd treated Riku. Nothing would be enough to excuse how he'd treated Riku.

"Why _did_ you drag me over here, anyway?" Riku asked.

"I… did want to see how you interacted with Namine," Vexen admitted. Riku hadn't exactly been wrong in that accusation. "Yes. But I also thought I'd… test more of Alpha's hypothesis. If Namine—you know… heh… _your_ Namine—had a meltdown while you were in a completely different _universe_, then—"

"Yeah, but you should've _waited,_" Riku interrupted. "I mean, she just had _nine._ The chances of her having a _tenth_ this week?"

Ah… Riku had a point there.

But…

"Isn't she having one now?" he asked.

Because, if he was correct (and he had a very good feeling that he was), Riku's headaches correlated with Namine's meltdowns. Especially the headaches that came out of nowhere like this.

"Right…" Riku said.

Vexen opened his mouth, then closed it. No. Now was _not_ a good time to further question Riku about this correlation between Namine's meltdowns and his headaches. Riku probably didn't have much of a clue about it, anyway, except that it existed. Regardless, now was _not_ a good time. Riku wanted to get to Namine, and, frankly, Vexen was starting to feel _very_ uncomfortable about standing in this Castle. For some reason, it felt so much more… sinister than its counterpart in the other universe.

"Ah, we should get back, then, shouldn't we?" he asked Riku.

Riku nodded. "I'll form the corridor."


End file.
